Wounded Warrior Project and Stack-Up Connect Veterans through Video Gaming
Stack-Up and Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) once again brought video game night to Pittsburgh for friendly competition, food, and fellowship. Stack-Up, a charity organization that brings veterans and civilian supporters together through a shared love of video gaming, co-hosted the event with WWP. Chris Kitner, an Army veteran and warrior served by WWP, got something special from the evening.
“I met another warrior that I can dominate in FIFA 2017 on a daily basis,” Chris joked. “Honestly though, I’m not really an avid gamer. I enjoy it as a way to decompress. It’s a way to detach myself from any stressors for at least a few minutes.”
For many veterans, the experiences they had in the military were some of the best of their lives, filled with camaraderie, meaning, and direction. But upon the return to civilian life, isolation can be one of the most significant struggles wounded warriors deal with. That’s why WWP and Stack-Up have hosted several game nights at WWP offices to provide bonding opportunities that extend beyond a single gathering.
“Playing cooperative games like Tom Clancy’s The Division™ and Ghost Recon®: Wildlands is a great way to stay connected with my veteran friends,” Chris said. “Once you get out of the service, everyone heads off to their own corners of the country, so it’s nice to meet some other warriors I can connect with online.”
WWP program gatherings offer settings that provide opportunities for injured veterans to form bonds. The programs assist injured veterans with mental health, physical health and wellness, career and benefits counseling, connecting warriors with one another and their communities, and long-term care for the most seriously wounded.
“Wounded Warrior Project has covered a lot of bases for me,” Chris said. “Their physical wellness program gets me active and doing things I normally wouldn’t do. But events like this give me a chance to relax and just hang out and find new friends in the area that have also served.”
To learn and see more about how WWP’s programs and services connect, serve, and empower wounded warriors, visit http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/, and click on multimedia.
