Every day, 5,000 kids under the age of 5 die from water-related illnesses. Let's change that!

My birthday is around the corner and as it approaches, I am feeling truly thankful to have lived another happy and healthy year. I want to celebrate in a meaningful way and share my blessings with others, so once again this year, I’m asking all my friends and family to donate to charity: water and give clean water to people who need it, instead of giving me gifts.

Did you know that almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean drinking water? Every day, 5,000 kids die from water-related illnesses before they reach their fifth birthday. But it doesn't have to be that way. There are simple solutions like drilled wells, spring protections and BioSand filters that help provide clean water to communities around the world.

I'm asking each one of you to consider donating my age in dollars. 100% of every dollar you donate to my birthday campaign will be used to build clean water projects in developing countries. charity: water funds their operating costs separately through a group of private donors, so 100% of all public donations will go directly to people in need.

And how cool is this?! charity: water will show us exactly which projects we funded once they've been fully completed (which takes about 18 months). That means we'll know the locations and names of the communities we helped.

Help me make this birthday my best ever -- donate to my campaign!