Donation will aid veterans in their post military career
search and provide funding for the Endowment
WASHINGTON, June 30, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Call
of Duty Endowment announced today that the organization and its
founder, Bobby Kotick CEO, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI)
were honored with a donation of $250,000 from the Microsoft® Stores to help
veterans find job placement in their post-military careers.
The gift, which included a $225,000 software grant and a monetary donation
of $25,000, was announced at the
grand opening of the newest Microsoft® Store in Los Angeles, CA.
Founded by Bobby Kotick, the Call
of Duty Endowment, a non-profit organization, seeks to raise
awareness for the issue of veterans' unemployment, and provides
grants and resources to organizations that provide job placement
assistance and career training to returning veterans. As
such, the software donated by the Microsoft® Store will be
distributed to several organizations that the Endowment works with,
including: AMVETS; National Veterans Transition Services, Inc.;
Still Serving Veterans; Wounded Warrior Project; Hire Heroes USA;
and Veterans Green Jobs, among others. The Endowment
identified the groups based on their work in providing career
training and educational services to veterans from across the
country.
On behalf of the Call of Duty Endowment, Bobby Kotick expressed his gratitude for the
gift, "I am thrilled to accept this gift on behalf of the Endowment
and those veterans who proudly served in our military. As
business leaders, we have a responsibility to ensure that every
veteran who leaves the military is honored with a good paying job
in the 21st Century. I hope that more companies will
step forward to help us in this fight, just as Microsoft has done
today."
According to a recent 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.
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 in November of
2009, 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.
SOURCE Call of Duty Endowment