Since Clark and her manager Russel Hornbeek founded the organization in 2005 it has collected more than 3,000 units of blood and registered about 2,000 people to the national and international bone marrow registries. This month, Music Saves Lives was also named a finalist for the MySpace Impact Award, recognizing those who use the online community to change the world.
"There are so many causes, but this is dear to me because my life was saved and I knew I could save someone's life in return," said Clark, 26. "We really are making a difference and saving people's lives, and it's great that people are having fun doing it."
But long before the singer/songwriter was saving others, she looked to writing as her personal therapy, and has continued to use her poetry as inspiration for her lyrics.
"When I was 7, my dad was killed in a drunk-driving accident, and my family told me to write out my feelings," she said. "Since then, I always write about how I feel and how I see things, and I think others can get something from what I went through."
Clark's life experiences make for meaningful and powerful songs, which is what earned her a position among the top five nominees for Best Song this year, competing against more than 600 submissions.
"Her songs have really powerful melodies, and they are obviously based on personal experience," said the local award show's founder and co-producer Martin Brown. "She writes very much from the heart, and her philosophies on life are really good."
