Welcome to our Year-in-Review article! We had a great 2021 and are really looking forward to continuing our mission in 2022. Thanks to everyone who was part of making our year great. Let's highlight some moments from our programs and year all around.
Supply Crates & PC Vetrofit Crates
Our Supply Crates & PC Vetrofit Crates programs continued going strong as we trudged through 2021. While supply has not always been the easiest to get, we served 200+ Veterans and Active Duty Military units. We'll have the full tally once we do our final counts in the first quarter of the year, but despite every obstacle in our way, we made sure we could serve those who have been in service.
Check out this gallery of some of our Supply Crate & PC Vetrofit Crate updates from this year.
You can read articles of our Supply Crate updates here. Our PC Vetrofit Crate updates can be read at this link as well.
Conventions & Air Assaults
We made a return to conventions this year, and while events are not as robust as they were before the pandemic, we've done our best to have fun and enjoy them. We brought out some Air Assaults and ran booths at the events we attended to get the word out about Stack Up and our mission.
We've provided a list of Stack Up attended events and linked highlights here:
LootFest made us their partnered charity for their LootFest Las Vegas event. We brought out a few Air Assaults and some of our staff for the event and met up with our pals over at Regiment. The event was a great meetup for us and the content creators who attended the event.
Don't forget! We also held a VIP music experience with Trivium and a group of Veterans. The fans of Trivium among our staff had a blast as they attended the event while also ensuring our Veterans had a great time.
Stack Up Overwatch Program
This year we implemented our StOP checks via social media. Word has been spreading about our Overwatch Program and how we'll do our best to be there for those in crisis and looking for support through our peer-to-peer mental health support team. Our StOP team has successfully stopped 100% of users in crisis from making suicide attempts.
We had a 134% increase in total users this year, with 51% of our users being prior Military or current Active Duty Military. Reasons people use our Overwatch Program range from those who are having suicidal ideations, frustration with the VA, domestic/marital issues, dealing with the pandemic, and living with medical and mental health conditions.
We have also implemented Support Groups within our discord throughout the year. Topics spoken about within the support groups have ranged from Women in the Military, Transitioning to Civilian Life after the military, and more issues that affect Veterans and Active Duty service members.
Feel free to use our StOP check graphics to direct people seeking help in mental health crises to our discord at discord.gg/StackUpDotOrg. If you use our graphics, please tag us as well!
Thinking about volunteering? Fill out this form to begin your training as an Overwatch Program peer-to-peer support volunteer.
The Stacks
The Stacks continued to do good in their local communities throughout 2021, even as they struggled with pandemic restrictions and limitations caused by it. Some highlights from our Stacks include participating in Trunk-or-Treats for Halloween, local game nights with members of the community, Valentine's Day activities, and helping out with local food drives and distributions.
You can read up on our Stacks' activities here.
Partnerships & Community Growth
We've been making friends with other communities that have Active Duty Military members and Veterans out there, such as Regiment. As our partnership continues to grow, we look forward to seeing everything Regiment does.
Ubisoft made Stack Up the recipient of their Sixth Guardian Program Bundle, designing a great-looking skin for character Valkyrie within the Rainbow Six Siege game.
Some other partnerships include Logitech G's fundraiser for Stack Up with their Creator Spotlights throughout November, Gearbox's Volante Design jacket raffle, and so much more. It feels great to have so many people, communities, and companies come together to support our mission.
Our community itself has grown over the years, some members coming in as they need to and leaving as life takes them where they need to go. We have some great regulars in our discord who keep our community safe, hospitable, and enjoyable to engage with. Drop-in, say hi, and let eSkilliam and the crew welcome you to our space where Veterans, Active Military, and civilians come together with the common ground of gaming.
Want to get to know our community members better? Check out our Redshirt Roundtables, where our community members answer questions ranging topics from gaming to volunteering.
Stack Up Rex
Stack Up Rex has transformed himself into a mascot worthy of being "Mascot of the Year" if there was such a prize. Our King of Dinosaurs has become a symbol of the fun our community can have as we work toward our mission. As a cheerleader of Call to Arms fundraisers, you have all embraced him, helping him grow his social media presence and bringing him home in plush form. Rex would like to thank you all for being part of the mission and having fun with him.
Be sure to follow him on Twitter to stay updated on his adventures.
Call to Arms LIVE
Our 2021 Call to Arms LIVE VI event was a little rocky to start with as the internet at our location in Las Vegas was faulty. We still made the event what we could, and thanks to the support of Twitch, we had 1000s of viewers watching the event. A little over $70,000 was raised as the event went on, thanks to the support of those watching and the communities of our participants. EdgarAlanBro held onto his position as the Champion of Call to Arms LIVE. Other participants of the event include:
You can check out some highlights from the event here.
Thank you for taking the time to read our Year-in-Review and for being part of our 2021! Stack Up has some major news in store for 2022, and we look forward to what this will mean for us and our growth as we continue to meet our mission of helping Veterans and Active Duty service members through the power of gaming.