Veteran's birthday idea turns into $150,000 gift to comrades
Daily Herald
Jessica Cilelia
March 14, 2014
Bill Schumann was pretty down about turning 65 this month, so he decided to throw a party to raise his spirits.
It worked. But it wasn't because of cake and presents.
Schumann, a longtime Wheaton resident and businessman, started the ball rolling on what turned into a $150,000 gift for struggling veterans.
He asked the nearly 250 guests at his birthday bash not to bring presents but instead to give to the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans in Wheaton.
They came through in spades, donating nearly $30,000. And Schumann, an Army veteran himself, fulfilled a pledge to match the donations.
"It took all the negative of turning 65 off my plate and turned it into a positive force for the community," he said.
The giving didn't stop there.
Before Schumann's party, an anonymous World War II veteran pledged $75,000 to the shelter if it raised the same amount.
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