Michael Trevino: My Vampire Diaries Co-Stars Inspired me to do charity work

The cast of The Vampire Diaries is being recognized for their dedication to making the world a better place. Seemingly everyone on this cast uses their celebrity to further the work of a charity or non-profit they are passionate about, so Children Mending Hearts is presenting the TVDers with the Cast of Heroes award. Michael Trevino (Tyler Lockwood) chatted to Zap2it about the cast’s passion for charity work and what inspired him personally to take part.
"It's kind of crazy, because we all do it just to do it, not for any other reason," Michael reflected. "The eight of us [on TVD] are now like a little army, each of us representing what we want to follow as far as our charities go, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger. Everyone kind of had their own charity and we all started supporting each other and tweeting about each others' charities and it just grew and grew. It's really cool and it's nice that Children Mending Hearts is recognizing that."
As for Tyler’s personal journey into charity promotion, he credits his co-stars as the catalysts: "I wasn't involved in charity work until I got on the show, and I was influenced from the get go by Ian and Kat," Trevino says. "They have been so heavily involved with multiple charities. Kat threw her own event for her charity The Water Project and we all know that Ian is always around the world, saving the world every day, so I was influenced by them. I found my own charity, Operation Smile, and I support their charities and they support mine."
Have we mentioned yet today how amazing this cast is?