Call of Duty Endowment Launches Memorial Day Campaign to Increase Funding for Hire Heroes USA

The More People to "Like" the CODE Facebook Page, the More Funding for HHUSA

WASHINGTON, May 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the Call of Duty Endowment (CODE) announced it is launching a five day Memorial Day campaign to increase its grant funding for Hire Heroes USA (HHUSA) and to build awareness about the issue of veterans' unemployment. HHUSA is an organization which focuses on providing career transition assistance to recently returning veterans.  For every new fan that helps CODE support veterans and says they "Like" the Call of Duty Endowment Facebook page, between Thursday, May 27th and Monday, May 31st, CODE will increase their donation to HHUSA by $1.  The campaign will last until 11:59PM PDT on Memorial Day, or until a grant of $50,000 has been reached, whichever benchmark expires first.  

The grant awarded from CODE will go towards employment training programs that help military veterans successfully compete for 21st Century careers.  HHUSA partners industry professionals with transitioning veterans during employment transition workshops, provides veterans with intensive career development programs, and gives returning service members the necessary tools needed to sustain a successful outcome when entering the 21st Century workforce.

CODE 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 job placement and training.  

Brian Stann, Executive Director of Hire Heroes USA welcomed the campaign and funding for his organization, "People need to wake up and recognize what's happening to our vets when they leave the service.  We're thrilled that CODE chose us to help them engage more folks on this issue, and gave us the opportunity to help more vets."    

Recent figures from the Labor Department cited that one in three veterans under the age of twenty-four is unemployed and that the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans has jumped to more than fourteen percent.

MCPO Maurice Wilson (USN-Ret.), a member of the CODE advisory council, explained the timing of the campaign.  "Memorial Day is a sacred time when we honor those who have fallen for our country.  But it's also a time when we think of all those serving in our armed forces, and more people need to be aware of the challenges those service members face as veterans. Hire Heroes USA has a great program to help them, and they are a motivated group that will help us get the word out!"

Activision Blizzard, a worldwide online, PC and console video game publisher and publisher of the best-selling Call of Duty® video game franchise, created CODE with a commitment to donate and raise millions of dollars to help increase awareness of veterans' unemployment.  Recognizing that Call of Duty is extremely popular among troops, the company chose to give back to veterans by using the proceeds from the franchise to fund the organization.  

About CODE:

The Call of Duty Endowment (CODE) 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 CODE, 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