Call of Duty Endowment announces $2.5 million gift from Citadel Founder and CEO Kenneth C. Griffin

The Endowment celebrates Military Appreciation Month and its 15th anniversary with its largest-ever private donation and a new in-game challenge and pack.

May 06, 2024

Military Appreciation Month is always an important time for Activision Blizzard and the Call of Duty Endowment and this year, we have more to celebrate than ever.

Key takeaways

Kenneth C. Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel and Founder of Griffin Catalyst, has donated $2.5M to the Endowment, the largest private donation the organization has ever received.
The gift will support job placement for more than 4,000 veterans.
The Endowment is also launching the Call of Duty Endowment Knight Recon: Tracer Pack in Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III, Call of Duty®: Warzone™, Call of Duty®: Warzone™ Mobile, and the Call of Duty: Mobile Regulator pack to raise additional funding for veterans’ employment.
The Endowment is launching a new in-game challenge called “U Assist Veterans” presented by USAA that will allocate $1M to veterans’ employment.

The Call of Duty Endowment receives largest private donation in its history from Kenneth C. Griffin

Kenneth C. Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel and Founder of Griffin Catalyst, has donated $2.5M to the Endowment to support veterans’ employment. This donation is the largest single private donation in the Endowment’s 15-year history and will support the placement of more than 4,000 veterans into high-quality, high paying jobs.

“I am proud to support our military veterans who have given years of their lives to defend America and our freedoms. These men and women represent the very best of our country’s enduring values,” said Mr. Griffin. “The Call of Duty Endowment honors the service of these heroes by helping them bring their capabilities to superlative jobs in the private sector.”

With this donation, Mr. Griffin continues his long-standing support for organizations that support service members, veterans, and their families. The Endowment’s rigorous standards and effectiveness at placing veterans into high-quality roles complements the strategic approach of Griffin Catalyst, Mr. Griffin’s civic engagement initiative, which partners with high-impact organizations to advance innovative, data-driven, and timely solutions to critical challenges.

“We want to thank Ken and Griffin Catalyst for their generous donation,” said Helene Imperiale, Senior Director of the Call of Duty Endowment. “The Endowment prides itself on working with nonprofits that are the most effective at providing the services veterans need most when seeking a job, and we’re honored that our work has been recognized by the team at Griffin Catalyst.”

Since its inception, the Endowment has placed over 125,000 veterans into jobs, creating more than $7 billion in economic value for veterans and their families through salaries.

Introducing the Call of Duty Endowment Knight Recon: Tracer Pack and the Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E.) Regulator Pack

Today, we’re launching the Call of Duty Endowment Knight Recon: Tracer Pack in Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III , Call of Duty®: Warzone™, and Call of Duty®: Warzone™ Mobile. The pack includes two operator skins, two tracer weapon blueprints, and much more. The Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E) Knight Recon: Tracer Pack is now available on PlayStation, Xbox, Steam, iOS, and Android.

And as a special thank you for their service, the Endowment and USAA are offering free Call of Duty Endowment Knight Recon: Tracer Packs to U.S. military and veterans. Please visit www.callofdutyendowment.org/usaa for more information. While supplies last. Quantities limited. ID.me account required. See official rules here.

We’ve also launched the first Endowment pack on Call of Duty: Mobile, the Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E.) Regulator Pack. This pack features the Endowment’s pioneering female operator, Splicer, and will also include a vehicle skin, calling card, and more.

100% of net proceeds from these in-game packs will support the Endowment’s mission to place veterans into high-quality jobs.

Complete the UAV challenge presented by USAA and raise money for vets

"The Endowment will host the U Assist Veterans Challenge presented by USAA in Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III (including Zombies) and Call of Duty®: Warzone™. Complete the challenge to help U.S. and U.K. military veterans navigate their career search while earning in-game rewards from May 8-22. Throughout the challenge, Activision Blizzard will allocate funds as part of a $1 million total donation that Activision Blizzard has made to the Endowment to help place veterans into high-quality jobs."

Celebrating 15 years of placing veterans into jobs

“2024 marks the Endowment’s 15th year anniversary, and we’re making this one of the biggest Military Appreciation Months ever,” said Helene Imperiale, Senior Director of the Call of Duty Endowment. “We are striving to place more than 15,500 veterans into jobs through our fundraising efforts this year, and we know our community will rise to the challenge and have a blast calling in those U.A.V.s and playing with the Knight Recon pack.”

For 15 years, the Call of Duty Endowment has funded services that have helped 125,000 veterans find meaningful careers after their military service. The Endowment partners with the most effective nonprofit veterans organizations in both the U.S. and U.K. to deliver low cost, high value job placement, the service most requested by veterans. In 2023, the average cost for one of our grantees to place a veteran in a job was $618, about 1/13th the cost per placement of the U.S. government’s efforts.