Activision's Call of Duty Endowment and Hire Heroes USA Launch Memorial Day Campaign to Encourage More Jobs for Veterans

Facebook Campaign Will Honor Service-members and Ask the Public to Volunteer to Help Veterans

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Call of Duty Endowment announced today the launch of its second Memorial Day campaign to raise awareness for the issue of veterans' unemployment and encourage the public to find more jobs for veterans.   The campaign will also provide a grant to Hire Heroes USA (HHUSA), an organization that provides job training programs to support veterans and finds job placement for veterans.  

For every Call of Duty Endowment Facebook fan that volunteers to help veterans by donating their 'status' to honor a current military member or veteran, the Call of Duty Endowment will provide an extra dollar to HHUSA's current $20,000 grant.  Fans have from Wednesday, May 25th until Monday, May 30th at 11:59 p.m. PDT to donate their status to try and earn HHUSA a grant of $50,000.  

The grant awarded by the Call of Duty Endowment to HHUSA, will allow the organization to provide returning veterans with the necessary transitional training programs and essential tools necessary to gain 21st century careers, through their career workshops and job fairs.  HHUSA is dedicated to providing service members with post military career help with a personal approach to match career interests and skills to the needs of partnering companies.

Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) founded the Call of Duty Endowment to support veterans, and explained the reason to pair with HHUSA for a second time, "Last year's Memorial Day campaign was a huge success and Hire Heroes USA has shown amazing results with their previous funding from the Call of Duty Endowment.  We believe that this campaign can be an easy way for the public to volunteer to help veterans, honor those who served, and guide more employers to hiring veterans."

According to a March report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, male veterans between the ages of 18-24 struggle with an unemployment rate of nearly 22 percent, and women veterans in the same age range experience an unemployment rate of over 15 percent.

Brian Stann, UFC ®130 fighter and President of HHUSA, welcomed the additional funding to his organization noting, "Memorial Day is a time to remember all of our brave heroes who have defended this country and we are thrilled Activision's Call of Duty Endowment chose us to help honor the men and women of the Armed Forces, and provide more career assistance to returning veterans.  As I enter the cage for my UFC® 130 fight in Las Vegas this weekend, I hope others will join in the fight to get more veterans post military career help."

The Call of Duty Endowment is a non-profit, public benefit corporation, which was created by Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) in November 2009.  The organization seeks to help veterans transitioning to civilian life, find work and establish careers, and to assist other organizations that provide career training and job placement for veterans.  

Since Activision Blizzard, Inc., the worldwide online and console video game publisher and producer of the Call of Duty® video game established the Call of Duty Endowment it has delivered more than $1,000,000 in grants and scholarships to assist returning veterans with post military career help.  This past November, Activision committed another $1 million to the Endowment and pledged to find 1,000 jobs for veterans.

About the Call of Duty Endowment:

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.

About Hire Heroes USA:

The Hire Heroes USA (HHUSA) is an organization which focuses on providing transition assistance to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans, specializing in the career placement of those injured or with any level of disability. HHUSA serves veterans from all branches of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, National Guard, Reservists and Coast Guard. For more information about HHUSA, please visit www.hireheroesusa.org.

SOURCE Call of Duty Endowment