Still Serving Veterans To Receive $250,000 Grant From The Call Of Duty Endowment

Huntsville Veterans Group Receives Grant to Support Statewide Expansion

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., March 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Call of Duty™ Endowment (CODE) announced today that Huntsville-based Still Serving Veterans has been awarded a $250,000 grant to help the organization expand its operations across the state of Alabama. The funds are part of a $1.1 million effort to support an innovative 'chapterization' model, whereby grants are given to organizations that have the ability to scale their operations by opening new, regional offices—or chapters—that offer services to veterans.

Also taking place today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its 2012 annual report on the national veteran employment situation. While the report demonstrates a positive trend for the veteran unemployment rate nationally, the Call of Duty Endowment believes there is much work left to be done.

"The Call of Duty Endowment is focused on providing grants to organizations that have proven to be the most effective and efficient in finding jobs for veterans, and Still Serving Veterans is a stand-out organization by any measure," said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard and founder and co-chairman of the Call of Duty Endowment. "This new 'chapterization' strategy allows us to take the next step in applying sound business principles to the veteran employment effort – and can be a model for the non-profit industry as a whole. We want to support organizations, like Still Serving Veterans, that have proven business models and that are able to apply those best practices in targeted markets where the most veterans have the most need. By providing the funds to open new chapters in these targeted areas, we believe that goal will be accomplished."

"This grant and the Call of Duty Endowment's chapterization strategy gives Still Serving Veterans the support we need to replicate our success all across Alabama and reach potentially thousands of underserved American veterans," said Will Webb, President of Still Serving Veterans. "We thank the Call of Duty Endowment for their belief in us and look forward to continuing to work together for our nation's heroes."

The Call of Duty Endowment was conceived by Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard and co-chairman of the Call of Duty Endowment, in November of 2009 in an effort to raise awareness for veterans' unemployment. Since its inception, the Endowment has provided nearly $2 million in grants and scholarships to veterans' organizations and colleges throughout the United States to help servicemen and women transition to civilian careers after active duty. These gifts have contributed to more than 1,000 veteran jobs, provided job-training services to more than 2,500 veterans, and funded more than 30 veterans' college scholarships. On Veterans Day 2011, Activision committed an additional $3 million donation to the Call of Duty Endowment for its veterans' employment campaign.

About the Call of Duty Endowment:

The Call of Duty Endowment is a non-profit, public benefit corporation conceived by Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. The organization seeks to help organizations that provide job placement and training services for veterans. For more information about the Call of Duty Endowment, please visit www.callofdutyendowment.org.

About Still Serving Veterans:

SSV is a Veteran Service Organization headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama that empowers Veterans and their families to optimally transition into meaningful new careers and post-military lives with all the benefits and services that they have earned.  Founded in 2006, SSV has served more than 10,000 Veterans and their families nationally. Since 2007, SSV has secured over $78 million in cumulative additional benefits, services, and salaries for their Veteran clients. In 2012, SSV's professional counselors conducted 3,499 one-on-one counseling sessions which secured over $7.7 million for their Veteran clients and helped a record 164 Veterans get hired. SSV is also recognized nationally as a center of excellence for Veteran reintegration and optimization of Veteran services. For more information about SSV, please visit www.stillservingveterans.org

SOURCE Call of Duty Endowment

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