...If you are coming from the Humanity Hack campaign link, you've come to the right place! If you are one of my friends or family, you've also come to the right place.

So, I know everyone is not a big reader (I don't have a kindle either). And I don't want the message to get lost in my long rambling essay below. The point of this campaign is that there is a really heart breaking problem with dirty water around the world. It literally is causing kids to die from diarrhea (and the dehydration that comes with it). So I am donating my birthday, and asking that you please donate $32 for my 32nd birthday to help bring clean water to someone. (It costs $30 to give someone clean water).

If you're interested in WHY this is so important to me, keep reading please...

I'm usually 90% jokes, 99% of the time inappropriate. But this is one time that I'm going to be (mostly) serious.

On that note...can we all just agree that having the shits in a public place is like one of the worst things you can imagine?

...so let me paint you a picture:

You're a 12 year old girl going to school with all the same insecurities that we had at that age...except our problem was our first zit, or someone finding out we had a crush on them. But in this case, you haven't been able to bathe in 2 weeks and you can literally smell yourself...and you know that everyone else can smell you too.

You make it to school...and 20 minutes into class, your stomach starts rumbling. You excuse yourself and pop a squat with flies swarming in your face in a makeshift bathroom just off the side of the school house so that all your buddies can hear the interesting noises coming out of you. You come back into class, and one of your classmates teases you in front of everyone that you "shit your pants"....and then 30 minutes later, it happens again....and again.

All you want is to go home and take a bath. To start fresh, and go to school looking and feeling clean. But you can't, because the only water that you have, has to be used for drinking....to keep you alive. And its that very water that is making you sick everyday.

...After a while, you can't stomach the thought of going to school any longer so you drop out and join the ranks of the other women who walk all day to get the small amount of water that your family has.

- The average trip collecting water collects about 4-5 gallons (thats like 2-3 toilet flushes if you have a hipster toilet, or 1 flush if you're old school).

- 4-5 gallons of water weighs about 40lbs.

- It *can* take upwards of 4 hours on foot to get to that water. And some people do that up to 2x/day.

So that becomes your life. Walking for 4 hours to get to the water. Then walking another 4 hours with 40lbs strapped to you. And then doing it again before calling it a day. And then waking up at dawn to do it again. Thats your life, for the rest of your time on Earth.

If you're lucky, you get to see your kids make it to adulthood going through the same anguish you did.

If you're not so lucky, you get raped on your way to the water. Or you make it home safe, but watch your kids die from dehydration right before your eyes. As bad as having diarrhea in a public place is...I imagine dying from diarrhea is far worse. And watching a 6 year old die from diarrhea is worse yet.

So here's the deal:

Bringing clean water to people is something that has become very near and dear to my heart. One, because it really is heartbreaking. But two, because ITS SO FREAKING EASY TO FIX!

All it takes is resources. We're not talking about bringing bottled water that is going to run out. We're talking about digging wells, mountain springs in some cases, and water purification methods in other cases. The organization that I work with has used a $5M Google grant to install censors on many of the wells. So as long as those continue to get tended to (and we don't blow up the world or something)....we're essentially talking about a lifetime supply of water potentially.

It costs $30 (one-time) to give someone essentially a lifetime supply of water. 30 bucks to give a kid a chance at a life. 30 bones to let a mother not spend her whole life walking to water.

So, I am asking that for my 32nd birthday, that you could be so generous as to give $32 to this Charity Water campaign.

- 100% of your $32 will go to a water project. There will be *nothing* taken out for operating expenses of Charity Water. And even the credit card fees on your donation will be covered by other donors.

- I have an ambitious goal of raising $2,000 from my friends and family. If everyone gave $32, that means I need 66 of you.

- I will myself match whatever we can raise from this campaign. So if you give $32, its like giving $64. Thats 2 whole people with clean water...literally LIFE CHANGING.

- I'm hoping that with what we can raise here, plus some private donations, that we can sponsor another full project (which takes about $10k total). Everyone who donates will get to learn where specifically your money went to use.

....if you've read this far, WOW, you have the attention span of a saint. Thank you for your time.

P.S. - You *can* give more than $32 if you feel compelled. But you can also give less. Literally ANYTHING will help hit the goal.

Thanks guys,
Mike