Published , by Brittany Vincent
Published , by Brittany Vincent
Stack Up, a charity that supports veterans and brings them together with civilians through video games, has announced a grant from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention.
"I’m excited to see the continued development in the merging of the gaming community and mental health,” said Mat Bergendahl, Stack Up’s StOP Program Manager. “We feel our programs are doing tremendous good for our veteran community, and this generous grant from the CDC will allow us to put solid data against our feelings. It will reinforce the confidence our supporters and donors continue to show us.”
The CDC Program Evaluation Grant seeks to evaluate programs that help meet mental health needs in the veteran community, and the Stack Up charity does significant work to help benefit veterans and their families. They do outstanding work in the area of suicide and suicide prevention, and this grant award will help Stack Up help evaluate the effectiveness of its StOP initiative, a mental health and suicide prevention program.
It will also help bring the Air Assault Program to fruition, which is meant to help bring veterans to video game events. Additionally, the grant will help to offer professional training and mental health certifications for StOP members. This means the program as a whole can continue to expand, which is great news.
The charity is meant to help U.S. and allied service members navigate the harsh everyday life of deployment to combat zones with the help of video games. If you're interested about learning more about the charity, you can check out its official website here. As we all know, video games are a fantastic way to heal, enjoy your down time, and connect with others, and it's a great thing that this organization is doing to ensure veterans have the resources they need to remain happy, healthy, and engaged.