December 10th of this year, I will turn 40.

I distinctly remember when my father turned 40. There were a lot of black balloons and "over the hill" jokes I didn't understand. I remember thinking at the time: "wow, he's old". Well, he really wasn't, of course, and now that I'm about to reach the same milestone, I realize it's just another day. I won't get discounts to movies or appear "cute" when making awkward comments to strangers for at least another 20 years. That said, it can be a very special day with your help.

I feel blessed to have family, a good job, and friends that have great hearts of service. The idea that somebody, anybody, doesn't have access to some of the most basic of necessities such as clean drinking water is terribly disturbing and something I've been personally investing in to try to correct for the last several years. Many of you participated in my birthday campaign for Charity Water 2 years ago (when I was just a youngster). The result of that campaign were incredible and can partially be seen here:

http://bit.ly/X96wpn

Because of your generosity, two villages have ready access to clean drinking water that didn't 2 years ago. That is extraordinary to me. So motivating, in fact, that I've decided to give up my 40th to do it again.

Every little bit helps -- can you give $5? $10? You won't feel it in your daily lives but together it will make a huge impact. Now, why do I support this organization so much? Well, let me list the reasons:

- 100% of your donation goes to water projects. The administrative and marketing efforts done by Charity Water are funded through a separate mechanism so all of your money is used for the purpose you intend.

- I don't get spammed by them. Most every other charity I've given money to is incessantly sending me mailings (both snail mail and email) asking for more money. I've been giving to Charity Water for years and haven't ever felt like my money is just going towards printing costs and postage for them asking for more money (see point one again -- ALL money given goes to water projects).

- Almost a Billion people live without cleaning water all over the world. The families your donation impacts often live on less than $1 a day and likely get their water from a source that is contaminated. A child living in such conditions dies about every 19 seconds because of waterborne diseases. $20 can provide one person access to clean water in a village and eradicate these problems. That makes the return on investment substantial.

- Easy access to clean water is a fundamental building block of society. For example, children in many places can't go to school when they have to spend hours a day to and from a clean water supply. It sounds absurd, and it is. Giving communities access to clean drinking water gives them more time to be productive at other things that will make them more self-sustaining

- Charity Water will update you on the projects you are funding, including GPS coordinates of the wells you helped dig, and photos of the projects that you were involved with. Believe me, when you see the results, you will be richly rewarded. Check out the results of my first campaign above.

Your donation means a lot to me and will make my 40th my best birthday ever. If you are able to pass on this message, that's even better.

Thanks!
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bRaD

PS - I would encourage you to give whatever you feel right to give RIGHT NOW… don't think about it as you'll find yourself 2 weeks from now having not done it. I'd prefer to get $5 towards this today than to never get your debated $10 gift. ;-) You can always come back and give more if you feel led to do so!