It seems that since the day Sean Hardin was born he has been entertaining people. “I love to be the center of attention and make people smile,” says the 14-year-old. A native of Sugar Land, Sean is now setting his sights on more than applause. He is using his music to promote drunk driving awareness -and to hopefully save some lives.
Hardin has been selected as one of 30 teenage musicians from across America to appear on the Kids Saving Kids Drunk Driving Prevention Music CD. Sean says of his involvement, “I’m excited to be part of this campaign to help save the lives of other teens.” The Kids Saving Kids CD will feature his latest single, Alive.
The campaign is the brainchild of Boston-based Illumina Records president Ronald Bellanti. Bellanti, the son of a Massachusetts State Trooper, is a longtime advocate of drunk driving awareness who pioneered the use of music as a way to promote the message to the nation ‘s young people.
“This is another weapon in our drunk driving prevention arsenal,” says Bellanti, the founder of the Kids Saving Kids program. “The earlier we start kids thinking about not getting behind the wheel drunk the better. We are lucky to have kids out there like Sean who care enough to do something about what ‘s going on around them.”
Hardin began performing in 2006 when he got the part of Oliver at his first community theater audition. Since then he ‘s performed in 13 theater productions including at the acclaimed Alley Theatre, the Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Symphony. In August 2008, Sean competed in a Best New Talent Competition in Los Angeles where he won the comedic monologue category and placed in the top 10 in contemporary singing. In addition to singing and acting, Sean enjoys playing the piano and guitar, basketball, track, skateboarding, roller blading and video games.
The campaign’s national spokesperson is Becca Levy, a 13-year-old singer songwriter from Washington, D.C., who has been performing shows for several years and writing songs since she was in grade school. Levy adds, “It is amazing that kids from all over the country are getting together to make a difference. I want to welcome Sean to the project. I am looking forward to working with him to hopefully save some lives. ”
When asked why teenagers who are not old enough to get behind the wheel are putting time and energy into this project, Levy sums things up succinctly: “Drunk driving effects everyone. Any day of the week any person in America could be involved against their will in an accident with a drunk driver. ”
When people visit the Web page and listen to the music they will be forced to confront what drunk driving can do to people. Hopefully they will carry that with them.
This is the first time that free digital downloads have been used to raise drunk driving awareness. When people visit the page to hear the music, they will see a host of messages -designed by high school and college students-about the brutal costs of drunk driving and prevention messages. Visit the Kids Saving Kids MySpace page for more information about the campaign, www.myspace.com/ksk01.
http://www.fortbendlifestylesandhomes.com/apr0F3-KidsSavingKids.htm