SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 11, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognizing that the private sector is as responsible as government in solving the issue of veterans' unemployment, Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) has pledged to find 1,000 jobs for veterans and is donating $1 million from the sales of its blockbuster video game Call of Duty®: Black Ops to help transition service members back to civilian life by providing them with job training and placement.
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The $1 million donation was given by Activision to the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit, public benefit corporation that seeks to assist other organizations in helping soldiers find work and establish careers after their military service. Since its inception, the Endowment has distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants and scholarships to various organizations and schools across the country.
"This Veteran's Day, we should all take a moment to reflect on the sacrifices that the brave men and women of our military are making in service of our country," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. "It is a national tragedy to have these men and women put their lives on the line in Afghanistan and Iraq, only to come home to face another battle of finding a new career. The Call of Duty Endowment and the organizations it supports are devoted to reducing the rate of unemployment among our recent veterans by helping them find jobs and use the skills they developed protecting our freedom to earn a living.
I am honored that we are able to use the popularity of Call of Duty to bring much needed attention to this serious issue and assist veterans when they return home."
"According to recent statistics, the unemployment rate for young veterans of our current wars is more than double the rate for all Americans," added Brian Kelly Co-Chairman of Activision Blizzard. "The Call of Duty Endowment is dedicated to raising national awareness of the needs of our returning veterans — and helping these veterans directly. We are confident that many more businesses will join us by employing veterans in their companies. We are encouraging our suppliers, customers and business partners to join us in the cause of getting veterans hired."
To build awareness for the issues facing veterans, the Call of Duty Endowment will launch a twenty-five day social media campaign beginning on November 12 until Pearl Harbor Day on December 7. Fans of the Call of Duty Endowment's Facebook and Twitter pages will be asked to post a call to action or 'service op' as their status each day. For those individuals that share the 'service op' with their friends and followers, they will be eligible to win a copy of Call of Duty®: Black Ops. Two winners will be selected at random from both the Facebook and Twitter platforms each day the campaign is active. Participants must post the daily call to action through a special Facebook application or by using the hashtag, #serviceops,
on Twitter.
RADM Jim Carey (USN-Ret.), a member of the Call of Duty Endowment advisory board, added, "This campaign is a simple way for folks to say thank you to our veterans, while also putting a larger spotlight on a national problem that we want more individuals to recognize."
Recent figures from the Labor Department cited that there are close to 1 million unemployed veterans throughout the nation and that the unemployment rate for the youngest Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is more than 20 percent.
About The Call of Duty Endowment
The Call of Duty Endowment 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 Activision Publishing, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.
Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain,
Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com.
Call of Duty and Activision are registered trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.
SOURCE Activision Publishing, Inc.