Little known fact, Emmy-award winning actor Gary Sinise is a giver.  Other than Bono and maybe Angelina Jolie, there’s not another celebrity out there who does nearly as much charity work as Sinise.  Not only is he wildly philanthropic, he puts his money where his heart is.

And he’s a genuinely nice guy to boot.

Yesterday I got to hang out while Sinise and his band, the aptly named Lt. Dan Band, rocked Kansas City.  He started the band as a way to entertain the troops overseas.  They do an eclectic mix of covers, everything from Jimi Hendrix to Kelly Clarkson.  Last night’s performance helped benefit Operation Iraqi Children, which Sinise founded.  It’s an organization that collects and distributes school supplies to children in war-torn countries.

When not starring on “CSI:NY”, Sinise can often be found doing USO shows to support the troops.  He does between 50-100 shows a year.  He’s become the Bob Hope of our generation.

This is the second time I’ve met Sinise.  The first time was back in 2002 when he was pimping out some horrid sci-fi movie, “Imposter”.  Poor guy wanted to talk about anything BUT his movie.  So we struck up a conversation about charity work.  And nearly eight years later, I got to see him in action.  He keeps a pretty low profile about all the philanthropic things he does, but is always eager to do interviews and promote the organizations he’s passionate about.

Of course, Sinise is best known for his portrayal of Lt. Dan in “Forrest Gump”, which plays endlessly ad nausea on cable TV.  I mentioned to him that I’ve been to every Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant in the continental United States.  I couldn’t tell if Sinise was impressed or appalled.  Although he did mention his favorite Bubba Gump was in Hawaii, the only restaurant I’ve failed to visit.

I’ll put that on my to-do list, right after “save the world”.  Because if it’s good enough for Gary … it’s good enough for me.