On October 28th, I'm turning 25.

But this year, I'm not celebrating my birthday; I'm giving it up.

I'm asking for $25 from everyone I know. It's not going to me, though. ALL of it is going to bring fresh water to people in a developing nation.

Most of us have never really been thirsty. We have never had to leave our house to walk 5 miles to fetch water. We simply turn on the tap and water comes out - clean water.

Yet today, there are over one billion - BILLION - people on the planet who don't have access to clean water. Millions of those people contract deadly diseases from contaminated water. In fact, 45,000 people will die this week alone, and 90% of the deaths that occur from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are to children under 5 years old. The lucky ones won't die, but still walk hours each day just to get dirty water for their families. In Africa alone, people (mainly women and children) spend 40 billion hours every year just walking for water.

Thinking about this makes me sick. My birthday wish is to HELP. I want to help give clean, safe drinking water to some of the billion living without it. So, I have set a goal to raise $5,000 by my birthday. That $5,000 will build ONE freshwater well in a village, and provide 250+ people with clean drinking water.

I am working with charity:water, a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in over ~17 developing countries. This organization has blown me away. In the less than 5 years since charity:water was founded, this organization has built ~3,000 projects and brought clean water to ~1.3 Million people. I specifically respect their model, which allows for 100% of all donations to directly fund water projects.

Please help me make make my birthday matter this year. Together we can make a difference!