Gary Sinise Foundation

I’m not one to much care about celebrity or to even bother with “charities” touted by celebrities.  I guess I always figured as celebrities, they could do a lot more than just talk about whatever cause was important to them.

Then along came Gary Sinise.

The Gary Sinise Foundation (GSF) grew out of his personal desire to do more to support those who… who support us. In his own words, he “decided to become much more active for our defenders however and wherever [he] could.”[i]  And in 2011 he formalized his commitment, founding the Gary Sinise Foundation. Through the foundation, Mr. Sinise puts his time, his efforts and his money into the causes he espouses.  His foundation supports all the defenders of the United States – veterans, first responders and their families. Programs include RISE, a program to build specially adapted smart homes for wounded heroes; boosting morale on military bases and spreading the word about GSF with the crooning of the Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band; preserving the proud history of America’s Greatest Generation with recording the oral history of these heroes and providing transportation to and tours of the National World War II Museum for WWII veterans; providing comfort to those heroes in medical care due to duty related injury through Invincible Spirit Festivals; and so very much more.

Unlike many organizations bearing the name of a celebrity or family, GSF is a public charity recognized under IRC 501(c)(3), thus all donations are tax deductible. They are required to provide annual accounting of their income and expenses via Form 990, which are available for public review (2013 – 2015) at https://www.guidestar.org/profile/80-0587086 and since inception of the organization on their website. Additionally, the website provides audited financial reports. Their fundraising is cost effective, spending only $3 for each $100 raised.  Those fundraising efforts are then maximized with more than 88% going directly to program costs, not overhead and not salaries.

I did not know much at all about GSF until researching it for this spotlight. It is now at the top of my list of favourite charities.

Learn more about GSF by visiting their website: https://www.garysinisefoundation.org