Hi friends!

I'm starting this campaign for my 30th birthday asking for "$30 for my 30th" in hopes to raise $3,000. This will give 100 people access to clean water! If 100 of my friends and family donate $30 each, we'll reach that goal in no time! Rather than a gift, a drink, a meal, or anything else, this is what I want more than anything. Why you ask?

Last week I happened to read a book my co-worker gave me called "THIRST" by Scott Harrison, the founder/CEO of charity: water. I COULD NOT PUT THE BOOK DOWN. I read for 5-hours straight on a flight from Boston, openly cried in front of strangers next to me, and couldn’t stop talking about the book to everyone I knew all week long. The book was on Scott's life and how he went from being a club promoter in NYC to the founder of charity: water.

Many of you know I served in the US Peace Corps in Armenia after college (2012-2014), and even though their water situations weren’t as bad as the villages I read about in the book, it was so close to home, my second home in Armenia that is. My village in Armenia had a water truck drive around town once a week and if you happened to miss it, you were out of water for the week. We had old fountains here and there, but they would dry-up in the summers and freeze in the winters (photos below). I never noticed how crucial water was until I experienced it firsthand with the villagers for 2.5 years in Armenia. I believe it when they say 50% of the illnesses in a lot of countries like Africa are due to unsafe water. I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES.

One last thing I want to share, I promise.

This past Sunday, which was also my last day being 29 (eeks!), I met-up with my old pastors (Craig and Anne-Marie) who I haven’t really spoken to in over a year, but as soon as Craig saw me, he said he saw a vision and heard God telling him I was going to light a flame soon. The word he used was “fire-starter” – Craig told me he could see that I’ve had this flame go on and off over the last two years, but that it was never really time yet. He said this one would be different. It was going to light up again and this time, flame on through, making a path where there was none. I broke down in tears hearing these words – ever since I read the book 'THIRST' the fire in me has been growing again, wanting to serve and do bigger greater things for the underserved. THIS WAS NOT COINCIDENCE. This was not Craig's words, but God's words.

Yesterday, Monday, March 18th was my 30th birthday. Monday morning I came into the office, opened my inbox, and found an email from Scott Harrison. WHAT?! HOW?! My friend Cameron, who gave me the book, is friends with Scott and told him how much I loved his book and admired him. So Scott himself decided to write 'happy birthday' to me and donate $30 for my 30th on my behalf to charity: water (his own org!). If you all saw the excitement in my face when I read the email, you would've thought my smile would break skin I was grinning so hard.

God is SO GOOD. We are so freaking blessed to have clean water literally EVERYWHERE (even in our toilets). Many of us have no idea what it's like to be thirsty. We have plenty of water to drink. Imagine what $30 will do for one life.

Join me in celebrating my 30th by celebrating clean water and LIFE. Thirty is going to be the best year yet!! And I can't wait to kick it off by bettering lives outside our own.

Also, if you haven't read the book... OMG PLEASE DO! I will even buy it for you and send it to your house!

Love you all dearly. Whether you donate $1, $30, or $100, I'm so ridiculously blessed to have a community of family and friends who care enough to do this with me.

100% of the money will be used to build clean water projects, and when they’re complete, charity: water will send us photos and GPS coordinates so we can see the exact community we helped.

Blessings Galore from your newly aged 30yr old, Andrea! <3