On February 8th, 2017, I'll have been on this planet for 21 years. That's 7,665 days that I've been blessed with. 7,665 days of laughter, love, craziness, family, and friendship. 21 winters with warm clothes, and 21 summers with air conditioning. 7,665 days with shelter and food and clean water.

It's easy to be grateful for the big things - for trips to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and excursions into Sequoia National Park, for sailing trips and hiking adventures and several almost-disasters. But now that I'm soon to be an actual, official adult (if only on paper), it's time to consider all of the small things that are so easily taken for granted. And one of these things is water.

I've lived 7,665 days of my life with clean water at the ready whenever I needed or wanted it - from sink faucets and shower heads and the water fountains you drink from at school, to beachside showers and cold glasses at restaurants and the water fountains you dance in when the day is hot.

But this is not the case for the rest of the world. Every day, about 1,400 children die from diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. These diseases kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Around the world, kids forgo their education to spend their day lugging gallons of dirty water home for their families.

But we have the power to make a difference - to imagine a world where no one is thirsty - and to take steps to make that happen right now, in our lifetime.

I've had 20 birthdays of presents and stuff, 20 days of being the "birthday girl". But for my 21st, I want my birthday to be about something other than me - something bigger than me. So, please...

Don't buy me a drink.
Buy them a drink.

Let's rise up to the problems of this world, and raise a glass of water to those who need one. Please donate $21 for my 21st birthday, if you can. It would mean so much more than any material gift could. If you can't give $21, any amount, no matter how small, will 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.

Thank you so much for celebrating with me! I can't wait to see what we can do.