SANTA MONICA, CA (October 29, 2014) — During the two week period leading up to Veterans Day, Call of Duty® gamers can do their part to help 1,000 military veterans find high-quality jobs by joining the “Race to 1,000 Jobs” fundraising and awareness campaign (#1000Vets) in support of the Call of Duty Endowment. Call of Duty Endowment is a non-profit organization that uses a venture philanthropy approach to fund and grow best-in-class organizations that place veterans in meaningful careers.
The “Race to 1,000 Jobs” features three ways for gamers to get involved:
– Kicking off this campaign, five gamer personalities – Ernest Le, Goldglove, Goldenboy, iiJERiiCHOii, TmarTn – will launch their own fundraising effort as part of the 2014 Race to Prestige (#TheRace), powered by Twitch. During the launch week of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Sunday, November 2 through Friday, November 7), the gamers will stream themselves on Twitch playing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare at www.twitch.tv/therace while taking donations for the Call of Duty Endowment.
– Beginning Tuesday, November 4, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Limited Edition Dog Tags will go on sale at more than 11,000 participating retail locations across the United States, including GameStop, 7-Eleven, Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Toys “R” Us stores. Additionally, the Dog Tags will be available as part of a special Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare bundle at Costco stores. All profits from the sale of the Dog Tags will be donated to the Call of Duty Endowment.
– Starting today, gamers can create their own fundraising pages to raise money for the Call of Duty Endowment by going to www.callofduty.com/vets. Between now and Veterans Day, November 11th, participating players will be eligible to win a variety of amazing prizes, including a Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Limited Edition Xbox One or Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Atlas Limited Edition game signed by Sledgehammer Games, by asking family, friends, and Twitch viewers to sponsor them in a gameathon that will take place on Veterans Day. On Veterans Day, these gamers can then join together to play any Call of Duty title as they game for good. Gamers that raise $100 in sponsorship will get a copy of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare for Xbox (while supplies last) and the top fundraiser (must be over $5,000) will win a trip to Sledgehammer Games in San Francisco to meet the creators of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
In addition to donating all profits from the sales of the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Limited Edition Dog Tags, Activision Publishing will match all donations made to the Call of Duty Endowment dollar-for-dollar, up to $1 million, during the “Race to 1,000 Jobs.”
“We are incredibly excited to offer Call of Duty gamers three ways to support connecting veterans with the high-quality career opportunities they need and deserve,” said Dan Goldenberg, Executive Director of the Call of Duty Endowment. “The ‘Race to 1,000 Jobs’ is a terrific opportunity for Call of Duty gamers to have a lot of fun while helping put vets to work in great jobs.”
“Twitch is proud to team up with Activision and the Call of Duty Endowment to advance this mission to help 1,000 veterans start new careers,” said Justin Wong, VP of Partnerships at Twitch. “This campaign is an example of what the gaming community can do to channel its incredible energy for an important cause.”
Working with Deloitte, the Call of Duty Endowment carefully evaluates and then funds organizations working to prepare veterans for the job market and place them in careers that take full advantage of their skills, experience and training. Recipients of the Call of Duty Endowment’s Seal of Distinction must demonstrate effective and cost-efficient veteran job placement before receiving funding to encourage their growth and operations.
