A #GivingTuesday Challenge: Help 1,000 Veterans Get Jobs
A few years ago, a group of progressive companies, charities, institutions, and individuals joined to create a national day of giving that would occur during the holiday season — #GivingTuesday. It’s an idea that has really resonated: last year alone, nearly 700,000 donors gave over $116 million to causes they care about. The success of #GivingTuesday is inspiring to all of us who want to help the most vulnerable in our communities.
Among those who need our help are our nation’s veterans, whose transition into the civilian workforce — and civilian life — is often very challenging. As the Executive Director of The Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit that finds and funds the best organizations in the country that help veterans gain meaningful employment, I constantly think about how we can help our nation’s veterans get good jobs.
Back in 2009, when the Endowment was founded by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, unemployment for our youngest veterans was well over 20 percent, which is absolutely unconscionable. Think about it: these individuals have given up so much to serve their country — gaining high demand skills and experience along the way. And, when they leave the military, they’re met with incredible instability because they can’t secure good jobs. Nor do they know — in many cases — how to look for jobs that are outside the military realm. This is in addition to the fact that many companies don’t understand how to translate military experience to a non-military environment.
There’s a disconnect between the supply of job market ready veterans and companies that want to hire them, which results in high unemployment, particularly with our youngest veterans. As a nation, how could we possibly expect our young veterans to have a smooth transition to civilian life when they can’t get jobs and pay their bills?
That’s why in the spirit of #GivingTuesday, this holiday season, we at The Call of Duty Endowment are issuing a #1000VeteranChallenge. From today until the end of the year, we will be working to raise enough funding to help 1,000 veterans find high quality jobs. If you’re interested in helping, visit www.1000vets.org to make a donation.
Every $600 that we raise places a veteran into a high quality job — that’s 1/5 the cost of federal government efforts! Through our extremely effective model, we’ve funded the placement of over 29,000 veterans into jobs to-date. On top of that, every single dollar received by the Endowment goes directly to getting veterans back to work, as Activision Blizzard covers all our overhead costs — no other major veteran charity can say that. And, for this campaign, Activision Blizzard has committed to match donations up to $250,000!
By joining forces with us, you can help make a difference to men and women who have served.
Please consider supporting our #1000VeteranChallenge this holiday season, and together we can give back to the brave men and women who have given so much to this country and the world.
Dan Goldenberg
Executive Director
