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Teens aim to raise $30K for Milwaukee homeless shelter​
By Jeff Rumage
​Mequon - After several months of feeding homeless men at The Guest House of Milwaukee, North Shore teenagers Michael Marcus and Jacob Coran decided they wanted to help those men cook for themselves.
The 86 men who stay at The Guest House aren't able to do much cooking within the closet-sized kitchen, which has a sink, oven, microwave and a small refrigerator. So Marcus, of Fox Point, and Coran, of Mequon, decided they would raise $30,000 to build a complete kitchen with a stove, dishwasher and more refrigerator space.
The boys, who are juniors at the University School of Milwaukee, started their fundraising efforts almost two years ago by setting up spare change jars at local businesses in the North Shore.
That didn't get them very far, so they decided to sell Summerfest tickets. After a while, they realized that their fundraising campaign — which they called Spare Change — was going to need more than nickels and dimes.
Marcus and Coran decided to solicit donations from local companies for a Spare Change Dance, which was held Saturday, March 7, at Elite Sports Club in Mequon.They received $10,000 in donations, pushing their total fundraising earnings to roughly $15,000 — halfway to their goal.
At the dance, the boys not only collected donations for The Guest House but also shared information about the homeless shelter with their peers.
"In Mequon and Fox Point, we never really see homeless people," Marcus said. "We thought raising awareness up here in the North Shore of the issues facing homeless people in Milwaukee is a good thing because a lot of people don't see that."
Marcus said they hoped the dance would encourage other North Shore teenagers to contribute to a cause in their local community.
"We wanted to encourage other teens to act and support other organizations like The Guest House that make our city better," Marcus said. "My message to other teens who might be thinking of something like this is that it is a lot of work and effort, but when it's all done, it's worth it because you contributed to your community."
Amy Rowell, of The Guest House of Milwaukee, said the addition of a proper kitchen will be a huge benefit not only to the men who stay at the shelter but also the volunteer groups who prepare, deliver and serve meals at the shelter every day.
The volunteer groups will now be able to prepare meals on site, as will the men who stay at the shelter. The kitchen could also serve as a cooking classroom of sorts for men who are looking to work in the restaurant business.
"We can't emphasize enough how inspired we've been to watch these young men take this project on," Rowell said. "They've really taken the lead on this project from the beginning."
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