A little goes a long way in the Sahel region, one of the harshest places on earth.

From David: I am donating my birthday to Charity:Water for these reasons.

1. Three years ago, I was fortunate enough to see a presentation from the founder of charity:water. I was moved by the charity's impact and impressed by the fact that they guarantee that 100% of all donations go to the cause--with complete accountability.

2. I told my wife Katie about it and since then she has donated her birthday each year, raising something like >$2,000 for water projects around the world.

3. My wife grew up in rural New York in a home that got its water from a well. The well was contaminated by a nearby metal-finishing industrial plant. The family cooked, drank, and bathed with water from that well for 15 years.

4. This year, my wife's mother has fallen ill with pancreatic cancer and Katie's usual projects like birthday campaigns have all been set aside. I want to be sure that the campaign continued somehow.

For all fo these reasons, I believe deeply that water is a fundamental part of a healthy life: if you don't have that, then you are fighting an uphill battle from the beginning. On top of that, with the family in a difficult spot right now, it renews the connection we all share.

Please join in!

Let's keep it going in recognition of my wife's efforts, our family's current challenges, and the impact that we can all make each day. Remember, 100% of donations are tax deductible and charity:water will show you how every dollar is spent, on the ground, providing clean drinking water in the Sahel. Thank you so much!

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From charity:water: During the hotter part of the year, the average temperature in the Sahel region of West Africa is more than 110 degrees.

For women here, not having access to clean water means hours of painful and exhausting work. Many of them walk miles each day just to reach the 100-year-old hole in the ground where they collect water. And they make that trip four or five times. Not only is that water contaminated and dirt-colored, but it has to be pulled up by hand, one bucket at a time.

The homemade rope burns their hands; it causes bleeding and leaves callouses — even scars. And sometimes the rope breaks, causing women to fall into the wells.

But we can change all of that!

We can bring solar powered pumps into communities and pipe water to tap stands right next to these women’s homes. We can bring time, energy and a better future to 100,000 people in Mali and Niger.

Help me play a small part in changing the lives of women in the Sahel -- donate to my campaign.

100% of everything we raise will directly fund water projects. And when those projects are finished, charity: water will send us proof in pictures and GPS coordinates, so we can see the actual people and communities we impacted.