Matt Sorum Teams With Alliance Hollywood To Host Los Angeles Party

[FunkyMonkey]

MATT SORUM Teams With ALLIANCE HOLLYWOOD To Host Los Angeles Party - Apr. 21, 2009

Alliance Hollywood ? the non-profit corporation that utilizes the entertainment industry to lobby the government in order to promote and advance social issues and serves as the voice of entertainment on Capitol Hill ? is set to launch a sister organization Freedom Children. The new non-profit is devoted to helping displaced and orphaned children from war-torn regions around the world, beginning this year with Iraq. The launch party, set to take place in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 26 at Coco De Ville lounge (755 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles), will be hosted by Matt Sorum (drummer for multi-platinum rock bands VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES and THE CULT) and feature a performance by jazz/soul singer-songwriter Adjoa Skinner.

"We're trying to help raise awareness and educate people on this crisis and another tragedy of war," says Matt Sorum, who became involved with the cause after Freedom Children's president Gianni Rossti asked for his help. Rossti ? a former child of war who was born in Iraq and escaped at age 16 ? now uses his personal experience to advocate for children of war-torn regions. Sorum explains: "Gianni Rossti asked for my help and I gladly accepted. This is a situation in war torn regions around the world. It gravely needs our attention. The innocent people are never to blame in these situations, especially the children. Many are left on their own with no parents or family from the horrific events that transpire through conflicts of war."

The Freedom Children launch party event is being sponsored by The One Group, Michael Greene Jewelers, MyStylishWorld.com, Roussos Construction, See It Simply, Inc., UrbanDump.com and Konst Law Offices.

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=118530

FALCON EDIT :

More info can be found here: www.alliancehollywood.org 

[FunkyMonkey]

Matt Sorum drums up support for Freedom Children

"War-torn countries need our help"

Joe Bosso, Wed 6 May 2009, 8:26 pm BST

Matt Sorum describes himself as a "rock 'n' roll hooligan," but he's using his fame as the drummer for bands such as Velvet Revolver and Guns N' Roses for an admirable cause, as an ambassador for a non-profit organization called Freedom Children.

"This is one of the most amazing outfits I've ever been asked to be a part of," says Sorum. "Freedom Children's president Gianni Rossti came to me and made me aware of so many atrocities in the world, particularly those involving kids. The minute he asked for my help, all I do could was say, 'Whatever you need, name it.'"

"If I have any level of celebrity, no matter how small, I'll use it to try to do something good for somebody else" Matt Sorum on his involvement with Alliance Hollywood and Freedom Children

Sorum's first step was putting together a launch party for Alliance Hollywood, a sister organization of Freedom Children, which was recently held at the Coco De Ville Lounge in Los Angeles. "An incredible turn-out," the drummer says. "I called upon all of my friends, and they called their friends, and so on...It was great."

But partying isn't what Freedom Children or Alliance Hollywood are all about, says Sorum. "The whole point is to lobby Washington and make them aware of what's going on in various war-torn countries. Gianni Rossti himself escaped Iraq, where kids are routinely kidnapped and put into the army. Or else they become slaves, sexual and otherwise. It's truly horryfiying."
"Why me?" asks Sorum. "Why not?!"

Sorum admits he's somewhat of an unlikely candidate to raise awareness for political and social causes. "Let's face it, I'm a drummer. People know me as that guy who rocks out and drives the band. On the other hand, if I have any level of celebrity, no matter how small, I'll use it to try to do something good for somebody else.

"This isn't about being seen," he continues. "This isn't about the red carpet. I look to someone like Paul Newman, who, for the most part, used his celebrity anonymously. But sometimes you have to put your name on the popcorn bag; you have to get people to see you and identify you with the cause. That's just the way it is.

"I think it's a small price to pay to bring about change. In fact, when you really get down to it, it's not a price at all."

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/matt-sorum-drums-up-support-for-freedom-children-206103

[FunkyMonkey]

A chance meeting with a former child of war at the recent Stuart House Benefit in Los Angeles opened Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum's eyes to the increasing number of displaced and orphaned children from the Iraq War.

During the March event, Sorum, an ambassador for Stuart House, which helps rehabilitate rape victims, was approached by Freedom Children president Gianna Rossti, who escaped from Iraq at the age of 16. Rossti's story inspired Sorum to lend his help to the nonprofit's efforts to assist child victims of war-torn regions around the world.

''With a lot of the stuff going on, there are a lot of orphan and displaced children," Sorum says. "Sometimes the parents will either get arrested, executed or all kinds of things. There are children on the streets who are homeless."

Freedom Children, the sister organization of the nonprofit lobbyist Alliance Hollywood, will set its sights on helping young casualties of war in all nations, but its current target is the Middle East. "The focus right now is Iraq, because of the war happening there and in Afghanistan," Sorum says. "But it's going to be pretty diverse eventually."

To help bring awareness to Freedom Children, Sorum reached out to friends like Rick Rubin, Cindy Crawford and Slash to attend a recent launch party for the organization in Los Angeles. "I've spent the last couple of weeks e-mailing people," he said prior to the April 26 event, which asked attendees for a $100 donation. "We're going to take the money and try to build a plan and three months down the line try to do something bigger."

AP