Together we've raised almost $10,000 to help awesome causes! Let's fix that "almost" part and celebrate with SWAG!

Update 2: Milestone!
And just like that, we've reached a milestone. $10,011.07.

Ten-thousand, eleven dollars and seven cents. -- Since I started competitive eating, we've raised $10,011.07 to support some incredible causes.

For those of you who are bad at math, that's enough money to buy about ten thousand Taco Bell crunchy beef tacos. (Which is about 40 more than Joey Chestnut can eat in one sitting).

But in all seriousness, I am astounded by the amazing, kindhearted, wonderful people who have helped join the various efforts along the way. This is truly a testament to what can be accomplished when people band together to make a difference.

Thank you all so much. Truly. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I am so proud of what we have done. You should be too.
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Update 1: It's my birthday! The best way to help me have a happy birthday is to donate $1 (or more, if you want to) and wish me happy birthday in the comments. Because all I want for my bday is for some complete strangers to be given a better life because a few people out there care about me. Thank you!
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Original Message:
I started competitive eating 3 years ago. This is the start of my 4th year.

So far, it's been a crazy ride. I've worked my butt off training. I've improved my numbers. And I've climbed in the Major League Eating rankings - from #25 to #9.

Really - now I'm one of the top 10 eaters in the world!

None of that would have been possible without the support of my family and friends (Psst... That's You!)

But more important than my personal gains is the fact that we've raised over $8,755 for causes during those three years. We've helped with everything from rescuing abused horses, to funding breast cancer research, to helping a school get built in Southern Sudan.

We've also helped raise enough money to help over 325 people get clean water for life!

I've tried my best to thank you all along the way. From mentioning you in videos (while trying to reach my competitive eating goals), to keeping a running tab of all of you amazingly generous people who have joined the efforts along the way (www.cardboardshell.weebly.com/special-thanks).

But it never seems like enough. I absolutely cannot express how much it means to me when you join me in helping those who need it. Your love and support means everything!

.... soo......

I've decided to give back - to you guys! If we reach the goal -- to break the $10,000 mark -- I will raffle off some autographed competitive eating swag and some cool Charity: Water stuff too! Every $10 that you've donated -- over the course of forever (as documented on the special thanks page) -- will count as one entry into the raffle.

Remember, I'm only going to raffle off stuff if we break the $10,000 mark, so even those who have never donated before will still have the chance to get some entries.

Bonus: when we reach this milestone, it will mean 41 more people will get clean water for life - bringing us up to 366 total.

Thank you all for all you have done! Let's hit this milestone!

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About Charity: Water -

We have clean water at our beckon call. In our faucets, in our refrigerators - even in our toilets! But millions of people don't have that luxury.

Every day, 5,000 kids die from water-related illnesses before they reach their fifth birthday.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

There are simple solutions like drilled wells, spring protections and BioSand filters that help provide clean water to communities around the world.

I fundraise for charity: water because I know how fortunate I am to be able to use water for something as ridiculous as dunking hot dog buns at the Nathan's contest table. So I want other people to be able to at least have enough water for basic survival.

Fun Fact: 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.

Thank you for joining the effort!