Water is life.

I've been alive for 34 years and if there's one thing I've learned it's this.

Water is life.

Aside from the air we breathe, it is the most essential resource for human survival. Yet, as my two children learn to wash their hands, brush their teeth, flush the toilet, and rinse their dishes, nearly 2 billion people still drink from poisonous pools every day. In order to live they must consume the same water they bathe in — water contaminated with biological waste, deadly bacteria and viruses, and parasitic creatures modern biology has yet to even identify.

Yet water is life, essential to human survival.

Every day, 1,400 children die from lack of access to clean water. 1,400 children every day of every week. Most of those children never see their 5th birthday. Dirty water and the conditions it causes claim more human lives every year than all forms of violence combined, including terrorism and war. Diarrhea, spread most often through contaminated water and unwashed hands, is consistently among the leading causes of death for children under 5.

Water is life.

This is the opportunity we've been given — the opportunity to give life.

We can give life! And it's easy.

For the cost if the thermos of coffee hanging from my shoulder this very moment, I can give life to another person. As a global one-percenter living in the lap of luxury where twice-sanitized water flows at the wave of a hand by a motion-sensor, I need only forgo two weeks of home broadband to save a life. I need only skip a single HSA contribution to plant a family tree. I need only work an extra hour this week to ensure the survival of someone's child. I need only sacrifice a date night, a concert, a month of haircuts, a week of lunch, a 401k contribution, three weeks of coffee, or two hookah sessions and another human being gets to live.

This is the opportunity we've been given.

But what does it look like?

Charity: water

Many of us have no idea what it's like to be thirsty. We have plenty of water to drink — even the water in our toilets is clean!

But many people around the world don’t have that luxury. Every day, about 1,400 children die from diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. 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 started this fundraising campaign to help charity: water build these types of projects around the world, and I'm looking for anyone who can help me.

Please donate to my campaign -- anything you can give is a huge help.

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.

As I enter my 35th year of life, would you help me to give life to 35 others who cannot live without our help?

Thank you!
- James