JSOnline.com

6/19/2015

Amid a backdrop of cranes, hard hats and noise that are seen and heard daily at the construction site for Northwestern Mutual's 32-story skyscraper project in downtown Milwaukee, a much smaller structure appeared Friday morning — a lemonade stand.

While a neighborhood-style lemonade stand might seem a little out of place at a fence gate to the busy work area at the end of E. Wisconsin Ave., to Bryce Unger, a construction project manager for the Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons development, it was a welcome sight.

That's because the more than $5,000 raised by the lemonade stand in only two hours Friday will contribute to the fight against a personal adversary for his family and many others — childhood cancer.

Among those staffing Alex's Lemonade Stand at the construction site — Alex's is a charity that supports pediatric cancer research — was Unger's 11-year-old son, Bennett, who has been battling a form of leukemia for almost two years.

"Obviously, this is a very personal thing," said Bryce Unger, who works for C.G. Schmidt Inc., one of two general contractors on the project. "And it's exciting to be able to connect the work that I do every day to help raise funds for Alex's Lemonade and childhood cancer."

>>Read More