Stack Up, the 501(c)3 military charity dedicated to supporting US and Allied Veterans’ mental health through gaming and working to end the epidemic of veteran suicide, announced that Matthew “Kiichichaos” Heafy, lead singer of GRAMMY-nominated metal band Trivium, is joining the Stack Up board of directors after a unanimous vote.
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Across more than two decades in Trivium, Heafy has sold millions of records, toured with Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Korn, and performed on all continents except Antarctica. As a solo performer, Heafy has worked with heavy music luminaries like Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, black metal pioneer Ihsahn, and YouTube music sensation Jared Dines.
The son of a US Marine Corps veteran, Heafy is also known for the top Twitch music channel with more than 225,000 followers, where he performs music from his home studio and plays video games, including raising thousands of dollars for Stack Up. Heafy also co-founded the Metal and Honey Foundation with his wife Ashley Heafy, which is dedicated to supporting the music therapy program at his local Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.
Now a member of the Stack Up board, Heafy will help guide Stack Up as it continues its mission to support veterans and active-duty military with the therapeutic benefits of gaming. These initiatives include Supply Crate video game care packages to recuperating military members and active-duty personnel. Additionally, Stack Up provides Air Assault trips to in-demand gaming events for deserving veterans and operates round-the-clock mental health support initiative Stack Up Overwatch Program (StOP).
“I was born in Iwakuni, Japan, in a Marine Corps military base hospital. My father is a Marine, and my mother is from Hiroshima, Japan. My dad’s side of the family has multi-generations long lineages in all services and branches of the military. Thanks to my father’s service in the USMC, I exist,” said Matthew Heafy. “Stack Up’s emphasis on wanting to help people’s mental well-being, while creating a place in which fellow active service and veteran military – US and allied – can come together and celebrate what connects them, is a mission that resounded with me at my core.”
“It is literally a dream come true,” said Stack Up CEO and Founder Stephen Machuga, “I have had Trivium songs on my workout mix since I was in the Army, and now the lead singer is sending me multiple emails a day before I’m even out of bed asking how he can help us out? It’s bananas; the potential feels endless right now.”
