.
2008
Humanitarian Resource Institute Goodwill Ambassador
Wayne Warner: Singer, Songwriter, Award-Winning
Director, Founder of Melodical Hearts
Official
Web Site, God Bless The Children: HRI Arts Integration Into Education
Spotlight.
"God
Bless The Children"
Wayne Warner
Singer, Songwriter, Award-Winning
Director, Founder of Melodical Hearts
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FAMED NASHVILLE RECORDING ARTISTS UNITE TO PRODUCE LANDMARK SONG AND VIDEO IN SUPPORT OF CHILDREN IN THE U.S. FOSTER CARE SYSTEM
Written by Wayne Warner, all proceeds from “God Bless the Children” will fund efforts to recruit adoptive families
(Nashville, TN) – An unprecedented number of Nashville recording artists
have partnered together to record a new song and video “God Bless the Children”
to emphasize the need to find families for the more than 119,000 waiting
children that are available for adoption in the U.S. foster care system.
Led by singer, songwriter Wayne Warner, and award-winning director and adoptive
parent, John Lloyd Miller, “God Bless the Children” will be released nationally
in March. Warner and Miller have brought together an impressive group of
country music singers in hopes of directing a national spotlight on the plight
of the waiting children in foster care across the nation.
“I am fortunate to be surrounded by such a talented group of dedicated musicians
on this project,” said Warner. “It is an honor to be able to harness the
power of music to raise awareness of the need to find adoptive families for
the thousands of children languishing in the foster care system in the United
States.”
Warner, an adoptive father of three boys, wrote “God Bless the Children,”
with the intent of using the song to encourage potential families to adopt
from foster care. Once released, all proceeds from the sale of the song will
support the efforts of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a public
charity dedicated to increasing adoption awareness while supporting model
adoption service programs. Warner will also be relinquishing any rights to
royalties from the song and donating the funds directly to the Foundation.
“We are excited to be partnering with Wayne and the other musicians on this
very important effort,” said Rita Soronen, executive director, Dave Thomas
Foundation for Adoption. “Our hope is that when people listen to this song
they will be inspired to reach into their hearts and help these waiting children
that have ended up in the foster care system by no fault of their own.”
Nashville-based singers involved in this project will include artist such
as, Kevin Sharp, Mark McGuinn, Jason Aldean, Jeffrey Steele, Kalisa Ewing,
Jimmy Fortune ( Statlers), Jett Williams, Billy Yates, TG Sheppard, David
Frizzell, Jamie Lee Thurston, Deborah Allen, Mila Mason, Taylor Swift, Terry
Cummings, Redd Hot Mamas, John Conlee, The Jordanaires, along with many others.
The video for “God Bless the Children” will include a choir comprised of
celebrities and adopted children. The video will also feature images borrowed
from the New Jersey Heart Gallery, where professional photographers have
captured images of more than 300 New Jersey children who are legally free
for adoption nationwide.
“Our goal with this video is to capture the hearts of the American public,”
said Miller, who is also known for producing the video for Garth Brook’s
“The Dance.” “If the images in this video and the lyrics of this song can
convince even one person to pick up the phone to find out more about adoption,
then we have done our job.”
According to the most recent data, there are approximately 523,000 children
in foster care in the United States, and 119,000 of them are available for
adoption. Since 1987, the number of children in foster care has nearly doubled,
and the average time a child languishes in foster care has lengthened to
nearly three years. Each year, approximately 20,000 children in foster care
will age out of the system without ever being placed with a permanent family.
Four in 10 American adults have considered adoption, according to a National
Adoption Attitudes Survey funded by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
That translates into more than 81 million Americans. If only one out of 500
Americans adopted out of the foster care system, children in foster care
who are available for adoption would have homes.
“God Bless the Children” is being released by Warner’s recording label B-Venturous
Records. The video is being produced by Miller’s Nashville-based company,
The AV Squad. Both the song and the video will be available to download through
iTunes beginning in March.
“What a GREAT project” - Ken Kragen, Organizer – “We Are The World “
For more information about the adoption process visit www.davethomasfoundation.org or call 1-800-ASK-DTFA.
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About the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
Created by Dave Thomas (founder of Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers and an
adopted child) in 1992, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is dedicated
to increasing the awareness of the more than 150,000 children in North America’s
foster care system who have been freed for adoption and are waiting for safe,
nurturing and permanent homes. The Foundation also provides critical grant-based
resources to local, regional and national programs that, through results-driven
and accountable activities, move children from foster care to permanent families
and homes. For more information about the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption,
please visit www.davethomasfoundation.org or call 1-800-ASK DTFA.
About B-Venturous Records
B-Venturous Records was formed in March 2000 when Atlantic Records, the label
Wayne Warner had called home closed its doors. B-Venturous is a home to the
independent artist whose career goal is to make great music while retaining
their own unique identity. The label and its artists have been featured on
the cover of Billboard Magazine, in Music Row Magazine and other industry
and consumer publications. B-Venturous Records continues to have great success
with artist and cofounder Wayne Warner who's first single “Turbo Twang” off
his current album landed at #5 for Top Dance song of 2005.
About the AV Squad
The AV Squad was created in 1995 as a place to do quality, creative work
with and for like-minded people. Founded by prolific filmmaker John Lloyd
Miller, The AV Squad has been involved in every conceivable form of filmmaking.
They have produced hundreds of projects, including music videos, commercials,
television specials, short films, feature screenplays, sports programming,
industrial films, live events and more. The company is based in Nashville,
TN.
www.theavsquad.com
HEART GALLERY
The concept of "family" is foreign to countless children. For many reasons
-- including neglect, abuse, and abandonment -- they have found themselves
in the foster care system. The HEART GALLERY is based on a simple idea that
has already made a huge impact. Photographers, all of them professionals
volunteering their time, take compelling pictures of children hoping to be
adopted, and the results are exhibited in a gallery format. These pictures
are worth far more than a thousand words. In Hartford, Conn., for instance,
portraits of 40 children were put on display. Nineteen of those children
were later adopted.
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