In 1993, 17-year-old Glenn Pierce left the party he was at in Sidney for a breath of fresh air.

He never came back. Instead, he curled up underneath a bush, fell asleep and froze to death.

Three years before that, a 16-year- old froze to death 100 feet from his front door in Tioga County. He was too drunk to find the warmth of his home.

No more parents should have to live through tragedies caused by mixing kegs and kids.

When I chaired the Senate Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee, I worked hard to pass laws to combat senseless deaths caused by underage drinking.

Unfortunately, underage kids still find ways to consume large amounts of cheap beer or hard liquor at unsupervised "keg parties" in secluded locations like Gillan Road in Binghamton or Kolb Road in the Town of Maine.

At these parties, adults have provided a keg of beer or many bottles of booze. Often, they charge younger kids to make a profit from their "keg parties."

We must work together to punish these adults. Unfortunately, current penalties don't address this problem. A person is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor whether he or she gives a kid a single 12 ounce can or a 15 gallon keg of beer.

That's why I've sponsored common-sense legislation (S.1914-A) to create the new crime of "unlawfully providing a child with a large quantity of alcohol."

This bill doesn't affect the laws where alcohol can be served to minors, like at church or the family dinner table. It does, however, provide a stiffer penalty of a felony conviction for supplying minors with a keg, which might make their suppliers think twice about doing it again.

That's what I told my Senate colleagues when they unanimously approved the bill this year. Unfortunately, despite our work, the Chairman of the Assembly Codes Committee is refusing to consider the measure.

That's why I need your help.

Please take a moment out of your busy day and write to Assembly Codes Committee Chairman Joseph R. Lentol at Room 632 LOB, Albany, New York 12248, to urge him to support my "Keg Bill" (A.961/S.1914).

Your support could mean the difference between savings lives or fighting this battle again next year.