Above video: World War II veteran who raised money for pandemic relief gets vaccinated A video game company that recently noted a surge in veterans needing help is marking a milestone in helping them during the pandemic. The Call of Duty Endowment, a nonprofit organization supported by Activision Blizzard, said Friday it helped over 15,000 veterans get jobs last year, more than any other year since the organization was founded in 2009.It comes after the company's CEO, Bobby Kotick, noted there was a 31% increase in vets needing help finding unemployment at the beginning of the pandemic, compared to the same period in 2019.The Wounded Warriors Project, another nonprofit that serves over 148,000 injured post-9/11 veterans, conducted a survey last summer looking at the effects of compounded stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic on veterans.In a December 2020 report, the nonprofit concluded that “lack of social connection (loneliness) along with co-occurring mental health conditions (PTSD, depression, suicidal ideation) exacerbates and magnifies the burden warriors experience during adverse events like COVID-19. Furthermore, the compounded effect of these challenges results in a disproportionate level of risk and increased burden.”Rosely Robinson is head of A Hero’s Welcome Delaware, a nonprofit organization that welcomes home veterans and supports them after deployment. She recently had to help out a Korean War veteran who, during the start of the pandemic, was kicked out of his home.James Fiske used to live in Dagsboro and needed treatment for bladder cancer. After he got treatment in the Bronx one day early on in the pandemic, his landlord returned his rent and told him to leave.“I learned later it was because of my age,” Fiske said. “I’m 88 years old, so the landlord was concerned about my age. I was more vulnerable. And he was scared.”But with the help of people like Robinson, Fiske found a housing development in Dover. He’s been there for nearly six months.Although he hasn’t heard about a lot of veterans in a situation like his, there are a lot of veterans he knows who are on the streets during this time that could use some extra help.“These poor guys, they’re just trying to make it one day at a time,” Robinson said. “There’s so many of them suffering that they need so much more.”The Associated Press contributed.