Students from Traverse City West Senior High School will host a first-ever Homeward Bound 5K on Sunday, May 18 to benefit TC youth shelter Pete's Place and raise awareness on the issue of teen homelessness. The event will take place at Traverse City West Middle School, with registration beginning at 1pm and the 5K race and fun walk beginning at 2:30pm. Homeward Bound will feature live local musical acts, food and refreshments, and appearances from local community leaders and organizations.

The project is the result of a months-long planning process by the high school's Community Outreach Advisory, consisting of four faculty members and a group of students hand-selected to learn leadership skills by participating in a community-service project. Students selected and researched community needs, presented possible outreach opportunities to the school body, then selected one final cause and associated fundraising event that would be endorsed by the entire school.

West faculty had observed students volunteering hundreds of hours supporting many local causes, and began to find a way to have all students rally behind a single cause. According to teacher Andy Wares, “our students chose to help some of their peers” by partnering with Pete's Place, a teens-only homeless shelter backed by Goodwill Inn and Third Level Crisis Center.

Registration for Homeward Bound is $25 for adults, $10 for kids 12 and under and $15 for students ($35/$20/$25 on race day). All proceeds from the event will benefit Pete's Place. “I can't tell you how rewarding it has been to be a part of this so far,” says Wares, “how excited I am to see the look on (the students') faces when they realize what they have pulled off, or how proud I am that they decided to bite off something like this and have the courage to go for it.”

For more information or to register online for Homeward Bound, click here.