Activision Blizzard announced today that it has donated $2 million to the Call of Duty Endowment, a charitable group whose aim is to help veterans find high-quality employment. Now in its tenth year, the endowment fund hopes to assist veterans in this time of even greater unemployment and displacement caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The large donation from Activision Blizzard also serves to launch the game company’s celebration of National Military Appreciation Month. The social media campaign gives supporters the opportunity to post the photo and name of a veteran or current active duty military member using #CODEFearlessChallenge.
Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard and co-chair of the Call of Duty Endowment, stated, “Military veterans need our support more than ever. With unemployment rates at all-time highs, we know from past experience that veterans will be far more affected than ordinary citizens. With this donation to the Call of Duty Endowment, we hope to find jobs for at least 4,000 veterans.”
In the past month alone, the endowment has seen more than a 50 percent increase in requests from veterans seeking employment than over the same period last year. Since its launch in 2009, the charity has placed over 69,000 veterans with an average starting salary of $60,733 and a 12-month retention rate of 81 percent. The goal is to help 100,000 veterans find stable jobs by the year 2024.
Source: Activision Games Blog