Activision Blizzard has donated $2 million to the Call of Duty Endowment to help fund emerging veteran employment needs.
The donation from the publisher of the Call of Duty video game series kicks off the company’s celebration of National Military Appreciation Month through the #CODEFearlessChallenge, a social media campaign that calls for followers to post a photo or name of a veteran or current member of the military to honor their service and sacrifice.
The #CODEFearlessChallenge coincides with a series of events in May supporting the endowment, which provides placement services for veterans.
Later this month, Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E.) Fearless Pack will debut in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Warzone. All of Activision’s proceeds from the pack will go to the endowment’s efforts to place veterans into high-quality jobs.
Veterans are hurting
Above: The latest Call of Duty Endowment campaign
In the last month alone, the endowment has seen an unprecedented increase in requests from veterans seeking employment assistance from its grantee charities — a more than 50% increase over the same period last year.
Activision Blizzard’s $2 million donation, as well as other funds raised through #CODEFearlessChallenge, will go directly to the endowment’s grantee charities to meet this heightened demand. Additionally, Humble Bundle is running a two-week promotion with the Call of Duty Endowment as the charity of choice. Titled: Humble Sierra the 3rd Bundle, this promotion will run starting on May 5 to May 19.
Call of Duty Endowment executive director Dan Goldenberg said in a statement that he has seen a huge increase in veterans asking for help in the pandemic. The charity has been around for a decade, but he said he has never seen anything like this and veterans will need help more than ever.
The Call of Duty Endowment has funded the placement of more than 69,000 vets in jobs since its inception and aims to place 100,000 veterans in meaningful jobs by 2024. The endowment’s 2019 cost to place a veteran was $499 — providing meaningful employment at a sixth of the cost of U.S. Department of Labor efforts. Nationally, American veterans make an average salary of $49,945, while those placed through the endowment’s grantees, with their focus on high-quality placements, made an average of $60,750, or 21% more.
Author: Dean Takahashi.
Source: Venturebeat
