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Visit Facebook to help transitioning vets

If you or someone you know is honoring a deceased service member this Memorial Day, be sure to also pay a visit to Facebook to help honor the current generation of service members.

For every person who “likes” the Call of Duty Endowment’s Facebook page between Thursday morning and midnight on Memorial Day, CODE will donate $1 to Hire Heroes USA, a nonprofit that helps transitioning veterans find jobs. That money — up to $30,000 — will be added to a $20,000 grant from the endowment.

CODE was founded last November by the video game maker Activision Blizzard to fight veterans’ unemployment.

A $50,000 check would fund two years of transition workshops at military installations around the country, said former Marine Capt. Brian Stann, Hire Heroes’ executive director. He is spreading the word with help from Facebook, Twitter and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he fights as a mixed martial artist.

“The veteran unemployment rate is about 20 percent,” Stann said. “These men and women deserve the first chance in line for the American dream, not the last chance in line.”

In addition to holding workshops, Hire Heroes works one-on-one with veterans who register on its site, matching them with job opportunities at its employer partners. It has placed 240 vets so far, he said.