Veterans have had the help of Department of Veterans Combators Adapt to work-life challenges for years. But employees of the suicide crisis of the department and other workers who held the telephones were one of those recently dismissed in a purge of the workforce of the federal government.
More than 2% of the probationary workforce of AV has been dismissed in recent weeks. Stephen Machuga, founder and CEO of StackThe charitable organization focused on the military has been focused on a shared love of video games, does not know how it will shake.
But Machuga hopes that society will not forget the contributions of veterans in the country and the results of their sacrifices over the years.
Stack Up helps members of the service to fight against the effects of battle injury, depression and post-traumatic stress thanks to the advantages of the game. The efforts of the charity include the Stack the Overwatch programProvides essential advice and support on mental health at 24 to military staff in active service, veterans and civilians while they are facing personal struggles.
Stack Up’s 10th anniversary arrives in November, and Machuga is trying to present themselves to the greatest number of people as possible and “remind them that we are there and try to help veterans”. He attended the recent Summit Dice to help stimulate the management of Stack Up and veterans.
“It’s frustrating. Like a large part of the game industry, we contract, “he said. “We widened during COVID. We had upcoming money. Then the money stopped coming. We had to close our warehouse in Florida for our supply fund. We arrived where we spend responsiblely. We spend means, but it is not very fun. »»
He noted that support has slipped.
“Each year, we are getting away more and more from September 11 and people do not really support the troops that before,” said Machuga. “We are just trying to get as many meetings as possible and talk to people and let them know that we are still there.”
In the past, Stack Up has sent Xbox and PlayStation games abroad to the place where American soldiers were deployed in combat areas. Now that wars and deployments abroad have cooled, work has started to support the fighters who have returned home and who always have difficulties. These days, Stack Up will send veterans to “geek culture” events or places like Disneyland.
It is a basic effort, as opposed to something that supports many large companies. And he brings together veterans through a shared love of video games.
“The game becomes such an important part of the conversation, because many veterans of September 11 are players. You know, male and female veterans aged 21 to 35 are all players now. It is no longer this strange thing. Everyone does it now. Thus, online games and games, online game communities are largely how these guys and girls remain connected to the people with whom they served. »»
Those who are still deployed also use games to stay in touch with their friends and family at home. This is one of the keys to suicide prevention – make sure no one is isolated.
“We have to make sure people feel like people are part of something. When you are in the army, you are part of something bigger than you. This is the mentality of the high school football team. And many of these veterans leave the army and they work somewhere. They left their friends in the army. Sometimes they feel that their best days are behind them. »»
In the name of suicide prevention, Machuga wants veterans to be engaged and happy and are part of a community where they have the impression that they are part of something. And he believes that positive good will and mental health are accompanied to play games and be connected through online games.
Unfortunately, support for charitable organizations in general seems to be down, because the economy becomes unpredictable. Donations are broken and people do not often have additional money for charity. During the pandemic, the gift was stronger. But now it is common to see people occupy several jobs and launch GoFundme campaigns for health reasons, he said. In 2024, donations for stack up were $ 830,000, down 20%.
“The economy is down, and therefore the donations are down, and we have trouble with that,” said Machuga.
At the beginning of last year, Stack Up crossed more than 60,000 veterans supported by all its programs in the past 10 years. Last year, there were 1,500 requests for supporting veterans, and the charitable organization was able to support around 250.
“It was a good race. This is the good news, and knowing that we have kept people alive ”is comfort, he said. “Having a community where someone enters our discord and spend a bad day and he needs someone to talk to or actively save a person’s life, get him the resources he needs to spend the night, that’s where the real rubber meets the road, right there. It is a good feeling.
Among the official programs, Stack Up still provides consoles to people deployed abroad or those who recover their return home. The group steals disabled or deserving veterans at various geek game and culture events, themed parks or studio tours such as Riot Games and Blizzard. There are veterans in a few dozen “batteries” that come out to volunteer in their communities. And there is the Overwatch program, which is a suicide prevention team between peers on Discord. The group has a registered office in Los Angeles in a mansion that has been modernized in a community center for homeless veterans.
The main fundraising opportunities occur at the Memorial Day in May, which is the month of military appreciation, then November 11, which is veterans’ day. From time to time, one of the military game companies will help make an effort for donations. But the group has no official support like the Call of Duty Endowment, which helps veterans find good jobs and is regularly promoted inside the Call of Duty games. Ubisoft, Kingsisle Entertainment and others have helped in the past. Bohemia Interactive, manufacturer of Arma, is working actively with Stack Up to do something this year.
Veterans who often do not do so as well with regard to charitable organizations which are considered more urgent or deserving, such as charitable organizations for young children.
Machuga knows that support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs have decreased in the new administration. But he noted that the support of the veterans was not always classified as an effort in the first place. Veterans are a minority group, often less than 1% of the American population. But it takes another type of reflection to consider veterans as a support value. This is part of the reason why it is difficult to collect funds for organizations like Stack Up.
“I have been working with the game industry for 15 years, trying to shout, kicks and screaming veterans and supporting the troops, and that falls into the ear of a deaf,” said Machuga. “These are symbolic gestures, such as yellow ribbon stickers on your car.”
He appreciates the support that happens, but wants it to be more, because he sees people light up when they receive a PlayStation or an Xbox from the Veterans group.
“In the past, we support the troops, then over the years, you have seen a cliff falling where it is no longer there,” he said.
But Machuga continues, and he asks for help.
“We appreciate it when people support the troops, whatever happens. But we always believe. My father served. I served. My whole family served. And we have veterans replaced by someone’s 35-year-old son, who grew up on an iPad with Minecraft on it, “he said. “And we know that games help people in mental health. People tell us that they had a good time. They wonder: “Where did the time go?” Instead of looking at the ceiling overnight.
