For my 27th birthday this year I wanted to do a fundraiser for charity: water. My goal is to cycle 270 miles over two weeks (starting December 13th) and raise awareness around the important issue of clean water access. This is not a major feat (only an average of 20 miles a day) but it is a realistic goal to set for myself as I will be with family around this time for a family get-together. Help me make this a birthday month and holiday season to remember! I would love for people to donate what they can in the form of a per mile pledge. This will motivate me to get out every day and work towards my goal. You can donate 5 cents per mile ($13.50) or 1 dollar per mile ($270) or anything in between or over those amounts!

Charity: Water is a charity organization that we can all get behind. Bringing drilled wells, clean water access and education to rural communities in developing countries. With total transparency and 100% of proceeds going to their cause thanks to the support of private donors who cover operating costs, you know that every penny of your donation is being used for exactly what you expect it to be used for.

If you live in a developed country, look around.... what do you see? Constantly advancing technology, infrastructure that seems to be growing every day to accomodate a growing population, and most likely... Easy access to clean water and sanitary waste treatment. We tear down old buildings and erect new shiny ones, spend billions of dollars on national defense and military, all in the name of progress. But how can any nation be proud of their progress when there are still so many of our human sisters and brothers in other parts of the world who suffer unnecessarily from disease and illness caused by lack of access to clean water? How can we march blindly forward in the name of progress without first stopping to think of those who still lack access to the most basic of human needs?

I don't want to live in a world where the scales of progress are so unevenly balanced. A world where some have access to everything but others are left wanting for something as essential to life as clean water. So let's change that. Be the change you wish to see in the world. Give what you can. Give hope. Give life. Give water.