Our Story

The full story from our founder

A Patriotic Call to Act

A letter from Founder & President Michael Schumer

The anniversary of September 11, 2001 holds a profound, patriotic place in America’s heart. As a high schooler in New York, I saw the 10th anniversary as a call to action. I reflected on the sacrifices our country had made since that fateful day. I thought of my grandfather who landed at Normandy in June of 1944 and of my many mentors who had earned the Bronze Star & Purple Heart awards for their post-9/11 service. I recalled trips as a young person with my grandmother to Fleet Week, the opening of the USS New York, a naval ship constructed with 7 tons of recycled steel from the World Trade Center, and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum docked in the Hudson River. I fell in love with the USS Intrepid, the home of an interactive museum with a panoramic view of the New York City skyline and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund which helps vets with mental health wounds. Contemplating these formative moments, I was motivated to do something patriotic and give back to the country in the best way I knew how: tennis. My dad taught me to play tennis at an early age and always taught me the value of the game’s competitive spirit and ability to bring people together from all walks of life on the court. Like that, the idea for an athletic fundraiser - Points for Patriots - was born.

Points for Patriots is born

I launched Points for Patriots as a project at the age of 14 with our first-ever athletic fundraiser: a round-robin doubles tennis tournament in Westhampton Beach, New York. I worked so hard and could not believe the outcome. Raising $15,000 in one afternoon of tennis, I could not believe our early success. All the funds were sent to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund to build world-class rehabilitation centers for United States military personnel with mental health wounds: Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Since that afternoon of tennis fun, Points for Patriots has expanded its athletic fundraiser model nationally, bringing youth and veterans together. 

Over four years as a Long Island high school student, I ran the tournaments, empowered by support from city, state, and federal officials and the dozens of tennis players who helped us raise nearly $40,000. But, I felt like we were just getting started.

Rapid growth at UChicago

With another September anniversary of 9/11 in 2014, I knew I had to keep the Points for Patriots momentum going when I matriculated at my dream school. The University of Chicago is known equally for critical intellectual thought as it is for vigorous service to the community. In my freshman year, I saw this new multicultural and well-resourced environment as a chance to expand to a new city. 

With the wisdom and mentorship of the Honorable Patrick Murphy - the first Iraq War veteran in Congress and former Secretary of the Army - I gained the necessary funding to launch Points for Patriots at David Axelrod’s Institute of Politics. Axelrod was a Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama at the White House, so I learned first-hand the lessons of civic engagement and issues facing the military community from global leaders. 

I built Points for Patriots alongside another venture I founded - the Veteran Career Advocacy Program that trained vets for jobs in Chicago led by leaders including CIA director Mike Morrell, Senators Tom Harkin and Kelly Ayotte, and Todd Connor, a U.S. Navy veteran and CEO of Bunker Labs, a non-profit organization in Chicago dedicated to helping new veteran entrepreneurs start their own businesses. I combined these two programs under a parent organization - the Maroon Veterans Alliance - which enabled college students to support the veteran community in Chicago through Points for Patriots fundraisers and Veteran Career Advocacy Program workshops. We reestablished Army ROTC and advocated with the Provost’s Office to create more military-friendly programming. Today, UChicago is the #1 university in the country for student veterans. The power of mentorship, listening and responding to the needs of others, and holding a firm belief in the power of bringing people together is a winning formula for our programs at UChicago.

Learning at the White House

I continued my learning of the necessity of honoring our veterans the following September. In the fall of 2015, I served First Lady Michelle Obama as a White House Intern. Footsteps from the President, I was honored to be present on the South Lawn for the President’s commemoration of the 14th anniversary of 9/11. I worked on Mrs. Obama’s Joining Forces program which coordinated resources to bring the military and civilian communities together through public-private partnerships. I learned from Mrs. Obama’s ability to mobilize people across the country to care for veterans. 

After my time at the White House, I returned to the University of Chicago, further inspired to expand our Points for Patriots programming in more creative and inclusive ways. Today, I advise current students at the University who carry the torch of Maroon Veterans Alliance that still runs Points for Patriots athletic fundraisers and Veteran Career Advocacy Program workshops to this day.

Where we’re heading

Following a national expansion, I am now focused on combining the Points for Patriots fundraiser model with a mentorship component. I learned of the power of mentorship through my experiences orchestrating the free job training sessions at University of Chicago and from the impact of mentors on my own personal development as a young person.  

The Patriot Fellowship is intended to infuse a youth development component to our nonprofit work. That is, we are now looking to advise high school students from California to New York on the creation of their very own Points for Patriots athletic fundraiser on our national Patriot Tour to fulfill our Patriot Promise of mutual respect. We hope to bring our mission of bridging the military-civilian divide to every community in America with Patriot Fellows and Veteran Mentors caring for one another and learning from the heroism and integrity of our nation’s heroes: veterans and military families. 

The comprehensive Patriot Fellowship program for high school students is an educational and wellness endeavor meant to equip young people with the skills and knowledge to create their own Points for Patriots athletic fundraiser alongside their Veteran Mentor to raise funds and awareness for military veterans recovering from mental health wounds. Fellows learn the management, leadership, and social innovation tools needed to create their own event, in their neighborhood with the express purpose of breaking barriers and welcoming folks of all backgrounds together for a day of competition and compassion for America’s heroes in need of their support. Along the way, Fellows are afforded connectedness with their Veteran Mentor; wellness with their world-class Yoga and Life Coaches; and social entrepreneurship training. Patriot Fellows enrich their own physical and mental health while launching their event on our national Patriot Tour of fundraisers to care for the health of our heroes.

Thank you for affording me the opportunity to share our story and current state of Points for Patriots as we approach yet another September. If you are impassioned to join me in veteran rehabilitation & youth empowerment, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly at michael@pointsforpatriots.org. 

Best,

Michael Schumer | Founder & President