Photo by: Michael Wong

Wars aren’t always fought with high-powered rifles, RPGs and machine guns. Sometimes they are fought with wits or on a game console, but other times they are fought with loose change and dollar bills. This is the type of war going on right now among the residence halls. Penny Wars gives students the opportunity to earn their dorm points and take points away from their competitors by donating money.

“The jars that we have in the dorms are for pennies and dollar bills, which are positive points,” RHA Executive Board member Megan Lancaster said. “And then the jars that we have in the cafeteria are supposed to be for silver coins.”

The silver coins deduct points from the dorm and the pennies and dollar bills add points. Near the end of the month, the hall with the most points will win a prize put together by RHA. This isn’t just a game for the campus though. All the money raised will be donated to the House, a homeless shelter for teens in Grand Junction.

“It is the only licensed shelter for teens between the greater Denver area and Utah,” John Mok-Lamme said.

Mok-Lamme is the executive director of Karis Inc., which is the company that runs the House.

While at the House, teens set goals for the future, whether it is school, a GED or employment, and they meet with case managers and counselors to help meet these goals. It is a short-term facility with, most teens being out within three weeks, but “we never ever transition a teen just to the front door,” Mok-Lamme said.

The House runs off of a small budget and relies on public support to stay open. One of the biggest fundraising efforts the shelter has is the guardian program. In this program, the House looks for at least 1,000 people to donate $100 a year. There are also various organizations in the community that hold fundraisers, as well as the food needs program they have. In this program, you can look at their website, thehousegj.org, to see what foods the House is currently in need of. These foods can then be purchased and dropped off at any of their donation locations.

“People reach out in the community, and we are very grateful for it,” Mok-Lamme said.

tfife@mavs.coloradomesa.edu