Family and friends! I'm not accepting gifts for my birthday again this year. I know you all wanted to shower me with cool stuff and loads of money. But please, forward those gifts along to Charity: Water in the form of cash, 100% of which goes directly to getting people clean healthy water! This is very important to me!

::: On May 19, 2000 in Tigray, a little girl, Letikiros, set out before dawn to get water. The water source closest to her home involved a dangerous, steep climb down a 700-foot cliff. The rocks were loose and slippery, and many women have fallen to their deaths on this path. Once at the dry ravine at the bottom, Letikiros would have to scramble up over giant rocks to reach the spring, which wasn’t much of a spring at all. Only enough water seeped out of the rock to fill a few clay pots every hour, and the source was shared at night by monkeys, whose excrement surrounded the area.

She waited in line all day before filling up her pots and heading home. On her way back, she slipped and fell, smashing her clay pot full of water (40 lbs heavy!) into small pieces. She must have watched in horror as the water spilled out on the dusty ground and abruptly considered the harsh reality of her situation. More than 10 hours of walking and waiting had been undone through a simple misstep.

Those who knew her well believed she must have been overcome with shame. She knew her mother and sister were at home waiting for the water. She knew they needed her water to cook dinner. And now, even the clay pot was destroyed — a valuable asset to the family.

So rather than continue home down the path empty handed, the 13-year-old child slipped the rope from the pot through the branches of a tree, then around her neck and hung herself. :::

When Scott Harrison learned about this, he decided he could DO something. Thus Charity: Water was born. To date, they have brought clean water to over 8 million people. I really believe in this non-profit. With your help, we can ACTUALLY make a difference in the water crisis. Our brothers and sisters don't have to die every day from unsafe water and poor sanitation. Remember how upset people were about Flint? That's a comparably tiny glimpse into a reality that many people face every day. 780 million people don't have access to clean water, which is a both staggering and disgusting number. There are simple solutions like drilled wells, spring protections and BioSand filters that help provide clean water to communities around the world.

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.

In past years, I have been overwhelmed with your spirit of generosity and compassion for this cause.
Please give a helping hand to those who don't have access to the most important resource that we take for granted every day, in honor of my birth! THANK YOU!!