(Please click "read more" below to expand) If you’re reading this, the water in your toilet is cleaner than the drinking water available to depressingly large numbers of people throughout the world.

If you’re reading this, you probably have no idea what it’s like to be thirsty—and I don’t mean just "Oh, I feel a little bit thirsty but I can probably get something in a few minutes" thirst, nor "Hot damn, I’m just back from a run around the block in my Nike trainers and I could really use a drink" thirst. I’m talking proper, mind-melting, fear-inducing thirst. The kind of thirsty you get when you have to walk 5 miles every day to collect water. The kind you die from.

About 1,400 children die every day from diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. That’s roughly one child per minute—about the same amount of time as you’ve spent on this page. One child—a human being just like you—gone. Every minute. Clock’s ticking…

It shouldn’t have to be that way, and it doesn’t. There are simple solutions like drilled wells, spring protections and BioSand filters that help provide clean water to communities around the world—but these projects aren’t going to happen on their own. They need our help.

I’ve decided to donate my birthday this year to charity: water, to help them build these types of projects around the world. I sincerely hope that, as a fellow human, you’ll help me by donating a small sum of money to this cause.

100% of the money you donate 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.

If you’re not interested in donating, no problem. I won’t judge. I’ve walked straight past people fundraising with donation buckets in the streets myself too. I know the internal conflict you feel, but I made a personal decision that I need to start doing something about it somehow, even if my actions seem small and inconsequential to me. I won’t hold it against you.

But… if you’re even thinking about it, even a little bit, please don’t wait to make up your mind. Real people are dying every minute of every day, and the sooner these communities get access to clean water, the more suffering and pain we can alleviate.

Let’s do this together. Let’s see what kind of a difference we can make.

Now it’s your turn. Click the button.