Gary Sinise Foundation Releases End-of-Year Video That Will Make You Smile

The Gary Sinise Foundation has released a video highlighting some of the work it’s done this year to help veterans and their families.

Actor Gary Sinise (“Forrest Gump,” “CSI: NY”) founded the organization in 2011. It runs a variety of programs and events to benefit veterans, including building smart homes for those who have been wounded.

Now, the foundation released its end-of-year video just in time for the holidays — and it’s sure to leave everyone with a smile.

The eight-minute video begins by showing families who have been helped by the foundation as they embrace each other. Sinise as narrator says, “Family. We share our joy with them. We count on them in troubled times.”

The actor continues, “So many of us have been inspired by the service of a relative whose sacrifices motivate us to do more, to be more. When family is not limited by the bonds of blood or name, it is shaped by the stories we share, the freedoms we cherish, and the nation we love and defend.”

Sinise then says the mission of his foundation is to “honor our defenders, veterans, first responders and always their loved ones who sacrifice alongside them. Because that’s what you do for family.”

The video includes testimonials from veterans and their families, who explain how their custom-built smart homes have changed their lives for the better.

The Gary Sinise Foundation also recently sponsored a trip to Disney World for many Gold Star families.

“Being around the others who I know have been through the same thing, it made me open up and kinda come out of my shell a little,” one mother said about the trip.

Sinise ends the video by saying people can always do more than they think for their country’s veterans and first responders.

“While we can never do enough for our defenders, veterans, first responders, and the loved ones who sacrifice right alongside them, we can always do a little more,” says Sinise.

Recently, Raymond Arroyo, a Fox News contributor, interviewed Sinise for “The Ingraham Angle” — and Sinise spoke a bit more about his commitment to helping veterans and their families.

“We show them that we remember, that we don’t forget,” he said about taking Gold Star families to Disney world.

In addition to paying for smart homes to be built for wounded veterans, Sinise also performs free concerts for veterans and military servicemen and women through his foundation.

He plays bass in the Lt. Dan Band, which is named after his Vietnam veteran character from 1994’s “Forrest Gump.”

Sinise was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in “Forrest Gump.” He has a memoir, “Grateful American,” hitting shelves on February 12.

You can find out more about the Gary Sinise Foundation here.

And check out the foundation’s end-of-year video below: