Something These Kids Would Remember Forever
When he’s not playing iconic roles, actor Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Truman, and The Green Mile) has another passion aside from acting and that is helping people. In 2011, he founded the Gary Sinise Foundation and one of the programs is called the Snowball Express launched in 2017. Its purpose is to provide free trips to kids of fallen soldiers. And so for the 2018 trip, Sinise took over 1,750 children and their surviving parents on a five-day trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
They received “We Remember” pins at the event where each of the fallen hero was represented by a flag.
With over 600+ families, 14 aircraft were needed for transportation. Sinise said, “The most important thing about [Snowball Express] is that these children don’t feel alone. There’s a lot of healing and a lot of bonding and a lot of friendship that goes on that helps them through the rest of the year.”
Aside from the trip, Snowball Express also hosts various events throughout the year. According to their website, “No matter where these families are in the grieving process, we hope to inspire them to believe anything is possible. By providing guilt-free fun and beneficial resources in a stress-free environment, we’re creating a community to learn, grow, and make lasting memories with new friends.”
Check out the heartwarming video below.