Gary Sinise Foundation Virtual Remembrance Garden 2020

First, to the Snowball Express families who are here to honor your hero, please know that this virtual Remembrance Garden was built out of a labor of love of hundreds of volunteers, over several days to ensure we were able to pay tribute and honor your hero this holiday season. Your hero will never be forgotten, and we are here to honor them and your sacrifice.

Gary Sinise Talks About Remembrance Garden

Second, to our Gary Sinise Foundation community, each year, Gary Sinise Foundation Snowball Express honors and remembers our fallen military heroes in a Remembrance Garden filled with hundreds of flags and placards, each representing the brave heroes our Gold Star families lost. At the 2019 Gary Sinise Foundation Snowball Express annual year-end December event at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL, over 600 flags stood as a tribute to our fallen heroes to ensure our Gold Star families know their loved ones are not forgotten. Each flag carried a placard bearing the name of their fallen service member. The Remembrance Garden provided a quiet place for family members to leave personal notes, photos, and time reflecting and remembering them.

Virtual Remembrance Garden

This year, the tradition of this important tribute will look a little different – while the annual Snowball Express 2020 event will be virtual due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Remembrance Garden still carries the weight and importance as it did during its previous five years at Snowball. Each flag carried a placard bearing the name of their fallen service member. The Remembrance Garden provided a quiet place for family members to leave personal notes, photos, and time reflecting and remembering them.

Virtual Remembrance Garden Tutorial

With the generosity of the American people and with the support of our official sponsor of the Remembrance Garden, WoodmenLife, we are able to bring the virtual Remembrance Garden to all of our families again this year so that they may honor and remember their hero from the comfort of their own home. This is an important reminder that they are not alone during this time of year, and their hero’s selfless sacrifice has not gone unappreciated and will never be forgotten.

While visiting the virtual Remembrance Garden, viewers will be able to access an interactive video where they can search for their hero’s name and be taken to a flag dedicated in honor of their loved one. Each flag displays personal photos and/or videos of the hero, submitted by their family. Not only will Snowball families be able to pay tribute to their own fallen service member but also their brothers and sisters in arms who so selflessly paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Making of Virtual Remembrance Garden 2020

In addition to the comfort of connecting with other Snowball Express family members, attendees are also in for a great deal of fun, entertainment, and empowerment throughout the event. Even in the face of a global pandemic, the Gary Sinise Foundation aims to “Do A Little More” to show our Snowball Express families just how much they are cared about. We are forever grateful to all men and women who have given so much to allow us the freedoms we enjoy today.