My parents raised me to value the life of others, rather than promote myself over others, and for many reasons not necessary to discuss here I did not have birthday parties. Until I was 18 years' old and lived away from home, I'd never really celebrated my birthday - I wasn't given gifts, big parties and didn't blow out any candles counting my age. It's a hard lesson to learn as your grade school friends hand out birthday invites to you, knowing you can't attend even though you want nothing more than to join. Even harder to watch your friend's brag about their newly minted Barbie Dream Houses on their "big day" and not feel jealous (despite the fact I had the coolest, custom-made dollhouse growing up).

As I turn 30, I look back at what my parents taught me and what I have learned from my travels around the globe. And I realize, not celebrating my birthday was one of the greatest teachings I had growing up. Today, what is most important to me is the opportunity to the celebrate life of those around me and that on no particular day does it mean I'm more significant than the person standing next to me.

How this leads to Charity Water...well, it's not hard to understand if you know me even slightly. If you've ever heard me snap at your leaving the faucet running - as a guest in your home to being in the office - then you know how acutely aware I am of this problem. Fresh, clean water is something that I feel we Americans take highly for granted, how easy it is to access, how safe it is to consume...but mostly important is how limited it is in quantity.

So, for my 30th - Alita 3.0 as I'm calling it - I'm asking that everyone I know help to give back in celebration of life with the easiest thing to give...water. Rather than buying me a cocktail or jumping on a plane to fly to SF and celebrate, which will cost you likely 3x as much, I'm only asking that you donate at least a few dollars to this ongoing cause.

Cheers!!!
Alita