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Activision's Call of Duty Endowment Grants $100K to USO

Friday, March 11, 2011

The Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping veterans transition to civilian careers, awarded $500,000 in grants to five organizations which strive to train and place returning service members and wounded warriors into the workforce. The organizations that will receive funding include: the USO, AMVETS, Military to Medicine, Student Veterans of America and Veterans Green Jobs.

The five grant recipients will each receive $100,000 to assist them in their efforts with career training and job placement throughout the country. The programs chosen each have a different avenue and audience as to how they are combating the unemployment issue.

The USO will provide career support to wounded warriors and their families through the creation of two new facilities at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. and a new medical campus at Fort Belvoir, Va. 

Sloan Gibson, president of the USO expressed his gratitude to Activision and Bobby Kotick for the Call of Duty Endowment's grant, "Considering their character, drive and discipline – our men and women who serve in the Armed Forces -- should be seen as ideal candidates to hire for any employer. I hope that more companies will help promote that theme, just as Activision and Bobby Kotick have done through the Call of Duty Endowment."

"It is a great honor to support these organizations that are training and placing our military men and women in 21st century careers," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, Inc. "For those who give selflessly to defend our freedom, we must continue to increase the public's awareness of this problem, and we must work together with businesses around the country to find our heroes fulfilling and sustainable jobs."

Among the other organizations: Student Veterans of America works mostly with younger veterans on college campuses, while AmVets will expand their Career Centers pilot program, which has been helping veterans living in Ohio. Veterans Green Jobs, based out of Colorado, looks to train veterans in the emerging field of sustainable green jobs, and Military to Medicine provides veterans with online healthcare training and employment assistance in the medical field.

The Call of Duty Endowment is a non-profit, public benefit corporation created by Activision Blizzard. The organization seeks to help soldiers transitioning to civilian life find work and establish careers and to assist organizations that provide job placement and training. For more information about The Call of Duty Endowment, please visit www.callofdutyendowment.org.

See a video interview with Sloan Gibson, USO President, at the Call of Duty Endowment grant dinner, courtesy of callofdutyendowment.org.