Gary Sinise Sends Families To Disney World

The Gary Sinise Foundation is a non-profit that sends families to Disney World! The foundation focuses on veterans, first responders, and their families, has helped send almost 2,000 people from Gold Star families to Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida.

This is all under the umbrella of the Snowball Express, which is a holiday season program that aims to help families of fallen service members.

The Snowball Express

According to an Instagram post, the foundation is tracking 1,722 participants this year, including hundreds of kids from over 650 families.

Snowball Express started in 2006 and aims to create a five-day experience for the families that is fun, inspiring, and therapeutic. In 2017, Snowball Express became an official Gary Sinise Foundation program.

The program may be young, but through the tireless work of its supporters and members, it has quickly made an impact on participants.

A tweet from Fallen Patriots, a non-profit that focuses on helping Gold Star family members get to college, said that participant Dale Mundell now wants to fly for American Air. Which is the airline sponsoring the event, in order to help other family members take part in such events in the future.

A National Event

Airports got in on the festivities as well. The Killeen Airport, a familiar location for any service members who have activated or deployed through Fort Hood, Texas, welcomed Snowball Express participants and a man in a Santa costume met with the families.

In Nashville, other travellers stopped what they were doing and held a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. U.S. troops in the terminal stood at attention and saluted as the song was performed, and you can see bystanders drying their eyes in a Facebook video of the event.

Meanwhile, airport employees seem amped about the Snowball Express as well. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association sent tote bags to participants to help them get all their goods from location to location, and the controllers themselves posted photos on social media celebrating as flights took off from airfields under their control.

Welcome To Disney World

And around the Disney parks, other park goers and local residents have chimed in on social media as they ran into the crowds of Gold Star family members and were affected by the experience.

For some, it was simply a great experience to see all the happy families, but for others, it was also a somber reminder that service members and first responders are still in harm’s way every day.

After all, some participants are as young as 2 or 3 years old, as Snowball Express participant Ramonda Anderson pointed out in a tweet.

If you’re interested in supporting the Gary Sinise Foundation, which also builds adaptive homes for disabled veterans, hosts free theater nights for veterans, and helps pay for training and equipment for first responders, they are always accepting donations on their website and are part of the Combined Federal Campaign. Use CFC number 27963.

Looking for more uplifting stories? Check out our Good New Category!

It’s filled with heartwarming and positive news stories from around the world.

For more good news in Hollywood we suggest Michael J. Fox Foundation Donates Big to Parkinson’s Research.

Or to whats new, we recommend Tech Inventions Saving The World.

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The Cat Nap Volunteer

Good News

The Cat Nap Volunteer

A man in Wisconsin has turned to snooze into a charitable act.

Terry Lauerman, 75, goes to his local animal shelter in Green Bay every day and takes naps with its cats.

Though, that’s not quite his intention.

According to Elizabeth Feldhausen, the founder of Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary, Lauerman strolled into the shelter about six months ago with a simple dream and a cat brush in tow.

“He just walked in and started brushing,” Feldhausen told HuffPost on Thursday, noting that he never asked to be a volunteer. “So eventually we told him he was an official volunteer and had him fill out our volunteer form.”

Feldhausen said Lauerman visits the cage-free sanctuary — which rescues disabled cats that would be at risk of euthanasia at other facilities — daily and stays for about three hours.

After he grooms a cat for a bit, he typically dozes off.

“[He sleeps for] about an hour, then he’ll wake up and switch cats,” said Feldhausen.

Apparently, Lauerman really enjoys the unpaid gig a lot — especially the sprucing aspect of it.

“He said, [the brushing is] as great of an experience for him, as it is for them,” Feldhausen said.

Naturally, the volunteer with a habit of accidentally passing out charmed the staff at Safe Haven, and the group decided to dedicate a Facebook post to him on Tuesday.

“We are so lucky to have a human like Terry,” the shelter wrote, alongside a few photos of Lauerman cat napping with felines. “Terry just came along one day and introduced himself. He said he’d like to brush cats. Eventually, it became everyday. He brushes all of the cats, and can tell you about all of their likes and dislikes. He also accidentally falls asleep most days. We don’t mind – Cats need this! Terry is a wonderful volunteer.”

Ends up the staff at the shelter weren’t the only ones smitten by Lauerman. As of Thursday afternoon, the post has received over 1.6 million on Facebook. It also made its way over to Reddit, where it has received hundreds of comments.

And although Lauerman hopes his 15 minutes of fame leads to more donations to Safe Haven, he also wants to remind people that he’s not the only person dedicating his time to shelter.

Feldhausen said that Lauerman specifically praised another volunteer named Paula.

“Who is what he considers the cat grandma,” Feldhausen said. “He wants to make sure the people who do what he does every day get credit too.”

ORIGINAL SOURCE: www.huffingtonpost.ca Visit them for more positive news.

Blind Veterans Kayak The Grand Canyon

Good News, Smile

Blind Veterans Kayak The Grand Canyon

“The brave man is not the one who has no fears, he is the one who triumphs over his fears.”

– Nelson Mandela

In this inspiring video, give brave and inspiring blind veterans kayak 226 miles down the Grand Canyon – including class 5 whitewater under the leadership of blind veteran Lonnie Bedwell.

This amazing feat was In honor of Veteran’s Day and all of those who have given so much. Google partnered with the non-profit Team River Runner, an organization dedicated to providing all veterans and their families an opportunity to find health, healing, and community purpose.

Together they set out on making this wild dream come true to “to invigorating and inspiring others to get out and do whatever they seek to achieve.”

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