Birthdays are usually about cakes, candles, and gifts. If you know me, you know I don't care much for gifts.

However, this year there is one gift that I care about - the gift of clean water.

In the States, we probably don't think about it much until we drink some metallic tasting tap water ... but in developing countries, it's really a matter of life and death. When your nearest source of drinking water is 3 hours away and it can give you and your loved ones diarrhea, malaria, schistosomiasis, trachoma, and a bunch of other diseases I can't pronounce (charitywater.org/whywater) ... there's no thriving, just surviving.

This year, I want my birthday to have an impact. In the spirit of the numbers 3 and 0 (you can guess how old I'm turning), 300 is the magic number - inspiring 300 people to donate, and bringing safe, clean water to 300 people by raising $6,000.

It makes me nervous to declare goals that I don't know I can reach, but playing small is no longer an option. I've got one life to live ... so let's do this! Please donate whatever you can. Share this campaign with your friends, family, coworkers, workout buddies, neighbors, people I may have missed! Repost! Retweet! And then repeat! Let's bring clean fresh water to our fellow human beings!!

I'm starting this campaign 2 months before my birthday ... and since there seems to be a small group that sends belated well wishes, the campaign will go on for another month after. 100% of the money you donate goes to directly to fund water projects (charitywater.org/100percent) and you can even track your Dollars to Projects (charitywater.org/projects/d2p)!

As a small thank you, I will be posting personalized thank you pictures to my awesome donors on my FaceBook page (http://tinyurl.com/annaquyenmycharitywater-thanks). Additionally, every couple of weeks I will be posting on my FB some interesting tidbits about water, how clean water can change lives, and about charity:water as a friendly reminder of the impact we're making.

For those of you who are wondering: Yes, there will be a birthday celebration on the eve of Sat, Jan 26th - please pencil me into your calendars. (My actual birthday is January 28th.)