C.O.D.E Launches Veterans’ Unemployment Awareness Campaign

On Veterans Day, the Call of Duty Endowment announced the launching of their 25-day social media campaign aimed at building awareness of the massive problem of veterans’ unemployment. Fans and followers of the Call of Duty Endowment’s Facebook and Twitter pages are asked to post a call to action or ‘Service Op’ as their status each day.  Share the  ‘Service Op’ with your friends and followers, and you will be eligible to win a copy of Call of Duty®: Black Ops.

The ‘Service Ops’ campaign will run from November 12, 2010 until Pearl Harbor Day on December 7, 2010. Two lucky winners from both Twitter and Facebook will be randomly selected every day of the campaign.  Participants are required to post the daily call to action through a special Facebook application, or if on Twitter, use the hashtag #serviceops.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), a worldwide online, PC and console video game publisher, created the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit, public benefit corporation, in November 2009, to help veterans transitioning to civilian life find work and establish careers and to assist other organizations that provide job placement and training.  At their Call of Duty®: Black Ops launch event, Activision committed an additional $1 million dollars for the Endowment to better help veterans in need.

“Both Veterans Day and Pearl Harbor Day are extremely important days for our nation to honor those individuals who have served in the military,” explained RADM Jim Carey (USN-Ret.). “Both days remind the public of the sacrifices and dedication our men and women endure, but more people also need to be aware of the challenges military members face when they leave the service,” added the member of the Call of Duty Endowment advisory board.

With alarming statistics on veteran unemployment, it is imperative for organizations like this to exist to bring awareness to a desperate, growing problem. “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,” Carey explained.

Just how shocking are the numbers? The Labor Department just released recent figures showing that our nation has close to 1 million unemployed veterans, and the unemployment rate for the youngest Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is more than 20 percent. These numbers are a disgrace to our nation, and we need to do everything we can, like joining forces with this important campaign, to help better serve our country’s heroes.

For official rules and guidelines for the ‘Service Ops’ campaign, visit the organization’s website at www.callofdutyendowment.org.