Benefit Concert to Honor a Friend

He's just a 19-year-old kid from St. Clair Shores. Just a freshman at Oakland University who was starting up a rock band, on the side, with a few musician buddies.

Then one of them died.

On Dec. 3, 2010, 18-year-old East Detroit High School senior John Hitz died in his sleep from an enlarged heart.

Mike Morris was left behind without his song-writing partner, lead singer and best friend.  

“I felt like a creative part of me died with him,” Morris said.

But what remained was the grief and desire to take control of something.

"It took something like this, the loss of a best friend, to realize that life really is too short," he said. "You can’t care what people think, you have to just do.”

So, in the next days and weeks without his friend, Morris turned his grief into motivation. By Jan. 1, he co-founded a non-profit organization, Forever Adventure. It's mission: to provide economic support and resources to young people pursuing personal adventures through music and the arts.

“We want to give people opportunities, hoping that they’ll take their passion—and I know it sounds far-fetched but—(to) change the world,” Morris says.

With a support team including co-founder Sarah Brockett, who was also Hitz's girlfriend, Forever Adventure has sold more than 300 T-shirts and other merchandise raising $1,100 in scholarship funds.

Morris says the scholarship will be given to a student who shows qualities, characteristics and dreams similar to Hitz's. Forever Adventure is also planning a benefit night Friday at East Detroit High School showcasing various musical acts, both to raise money for the group and to raise awareness.

As Morris sat in coffee shop, where he often plays the music that he and Hitz wrote together, he seemed energized rather than overwhelmed by his exploding schedule. 

All year, he's been going to school full-time, working part-time, working with a new band and running Forever Adventure. These days, he says, the time spent at school and on homework is a break from the reality of his other commitments—and vice versa.

“I feel like I’m busy during business hours of the day,” Morris said jokingly. “To me it’s not work; it’s not that obnoxious busy—it’s that busy where you have the opportunity to change someone’s life for the better.

"It makes me happy to think I'm inspiring someone."

The Forever Adventure benefit at East Detroit High School will be held Friday. Tickets are $7 for non-students, and $5 for students. Seats are limited. For more information, phone  (586)-772-7422 or visit Forever Adventure's Facebook page. 

Jamie Gasper is a journalism minor at Oakland University and submitted this article.