The Gary Sinise Foundation, which honors veterans, first responders and their families through supportive programs, has announced they are moving to middle Tennessee.
They will move into a new headquarters in Franklin this summer, and Gary Sinise also plans to move to the state with his family.
“It will be very, very good to be in a state that’s connected to seven other states, all of them with military bases and many, many veterans and all those communities around Tennessee,” said Gary. “Having our foundation more centrally located in the country will be a very, very positive thing for the work that we do.”
The Gary Sinise Foundation has been based in Los Angeles since its founding in 2011 and the organization will continue to operate existing chapters in San Diego and Orlando. Gary said the move was initially motivated by his family.
“I’ve been in California for 35 years and was thinking of next steps that might be exciting for the family. We have little grandchildren,” Sinise said. “I had a lot of friends there (in Tennessee). It’s a great entertainment industry there. They’re very, very supportive of veterans and would be a good place for the foundation and the family.”
Tennessee’s reputation as the Volunteer State — a 200-year-old nickname that salutes the state’s strong history of military service — provides a practical benefit for the foundation. The state is home to around 430,000 veterans according to census data, and surrounding states hold large military bases such as Fort Campbell (Tennessee and Kentucky), Fort Bragg (North Carolina) and Fort Benning (Georgia).
“I’ve been traveling across the country multiple times a year for decades now,” said Gary. “Our move to the Nashville area is going to be a great benefit, not only to the family but to the foundation.”
Gary also said that normal Tennesseans don’t necessarily need to write a check to a nonprofit to help support veterans.
“There are men and women who have served or are currently serving our country everywhere, in every state, and if every citizen just made it a priority or took some responsibility just to let those folks know that what they do is appreciated — and you can do that in different ways by just buying them a meal, or patting them on the back or saying thank you, or donating to an organization that provides all kinds of different programming.”
