Veterans had help from Department of Veterans Affairs Sorting to life-work challenges for years. But employees in the department's suicide crisis and other workers in charge of the phones are among those recently removed from a federal worker purge.
More than 2% of VA probationary workforce has been deleted in recent weeks. Stephen MachugaFounder and CEO of Stack upThe charity dedicated to the military is centered around a shared love of video games, not sure how to release it.
But Machuga hopes that society will not forget about the contributions of veterans to the country and the rise of their sacrifices in recent years.
Stack up helps members of the service resist the effects of battle injuries, depression, and post-traumatic stress through the benefits of playing. Charity's efforts include the Stack up overwatch program.
The 10th anniversary of the stack up is coming this November, and Machuga is trying to get in front of as many people as possible and “remind them that we are outside doing good and trying to help veterans.” He attended the recent dice summit to help the drum up support for stack up and veterans.
“It's annoying. Like most of the game industries, we contracted, ”he said. “We expand during the covid. We have the money to come in. Then the money stopped. We got to where we were spending responsible. We were spending within the way, but it wasn't a lot of fun.”
He noted that this support was slipping.
“Every year we go far and away from 9/11 and people don't really support troops as usual,” Machuga said. “We're just trying to get as many meetings as possible and talk to people and let them know that we're still outside doing good work.”
Previously, Stack Up sent the Xbox and PlayStation Game Consoles overseas where US soldiers were deployed in battle zones. Now that the Wars and Overseas deployments are cooling, the task has moved more to support warfighters who come home and are still struggling. These days, the stack up will send veterans to “geek culture” events or areas such as Disneyland.
It is an effort of indigenous peoples, compared to something with support from many large corporations. And it combines veterans with a shared love in video games.
“Playing is becoming an integral part of the conversation, because many post 9/11 veterans are players. You know, 21 to 35 -year -old men and female veterans are all players today. It's not that strange thing. Everything is doing it now. So playing and online playing, online gaming communities are many how these people and gals stay connected to the people they serve.
Those who are still deployed also use games to stay connected to their friends and family back home. That is one of the keys to suicide prevention – ensuring that no one is separated.
“We need to make sure people feel like they're part of something. When you're in the military, you're part of something bigger than you are. It's the mindset of high school football team. And many of these veterans come out in the military and they work hard work somewhere. They leave their friends in the military. Sometimes they feel their best days behind them.”
In the name of suicide prevention, Machuga wants veterans who are engaged and happy and a part of a community where they think they are part of something. And he believes that positive goodness and mental health play games and connected via online gaming.
Sadly, support for charities in general seems to have dropped, as the economy is unpredictable. Donations go down and people don't often have too much money for charity. During pandemia, giving is stronger. But now it is common to see people who work a lot of jobs and launch GofundMe campaigns for health reasons, he said. In 2024, donations for the stack up were at $ 830,000, down 20%.
“The economy went down, and so the donations went down, and we had a hard time there,” Machuga said.
Earlier last year, the stack up crossed more than 60,000 veterans supported in all of its programs in the last 10 years. Last year, there were 1,500 requests for the support of veterans, and the charity was able to support about 250 of them.
“It's a good run. That's the good news story, and knowing that we keep people alive” is a comfort, he said. “Having a community where a person enters our misunderstanding and having a bad day and they need someone to talk to, or actively saving a person's life, they get the resources they need to do at night, where the real rubber is at the same night, where the real rubber is at the same night, where the real rubber is at the same night, where the real rubber is. That is a good feeling. “
Among the formal programs, the stack up still provides consoles to those who are deployed abroad or those who recover when they return home. The group is flying with disabilities or deserving veterans at various gaming and geek culture events, theme parks, or studio tours such as riot games and Blizzards. There are veterans in a few dozen “stacks” who came out to do voluntary activities in their communities. And there is an Overwatch program, which is a peer-to-peer prevention team at Discord. The group has a headquarters in Los Angeles in a mansion that is reeled in a community center for no -veterans.
The main opportunities for fundraising came on the day of the May, which was a month of military appreciation, and after November 11, the day of veterans. Every now and then one of the military game companies will help make a push for donations. But the group has no formal support such as Call of Duty Endowment, which helps veterans find good jobs and regularly promote within Call of Duty games. Ubisoft, Kingsisle Entertainment and others have helped in the past. Bohemia Interactive, Arma manufacturer, is actively working on stack up to do something this year.
Veterans also often do not fare when it comes to charities viewed as more urgent or right, such as charity for children.
Machuga knows that supporting the difference, equity and integration programs are lost to the new administration. But he noted that the support of veterans was not always classified as an effort by DEI in the first place. Veterans are a minority group, often less than 1% of the United States population. But it takes a different kind of thinking to consider the veterans worth the support. That's part of the reason why it's hard to raise money for organizations like stack up.
“I have been working with the game industry for 15 years, I have been trying to scream and kick and scream about veterans and support troops, and it's kind of falling to the deaf,” Machuga said. “These are token gestures, like yellow ribbon stickers in your car.”
He appreciates the support that enters, but wants it to be more, because he sees people lightening when they receive a PlayStation or Xbox from the Veterans Group.
“In the past, we supported troops, and after years you have seen falling into a ravine where it is gone,” he said.
But Machuga goes on, and he asks for help.
“We appreciate it when people support the troops, no matter what. But W. still believes my father served. I served. My whole family served. And we have veterans replaced by a 35-year-old son of a man, who grew up on an iPad with a minecraft here,” he said. “And we know games help people with mental health. People tell us they had a good time. They wonder, 'Where did the time go?' Instead of staring at the ceiling all night.
