My birthday is almost here. I'm not usually excited about getting older, but this year I'm really thankful to have lived another happy, healthy year. I recently learned that millions of kids around the world don't live to see their fifth birthday because they don't have access to clean, safe drinking water. I want you to imagine becoming ill because of something we all take for granted, clean water. We can help change that.

I also want to add that it's not just about water. Having access to clean water will mean closing the gap between the number of girls who complete their education and those who don't because they have to walk miles to the nearest well for their water. I hope that one day, every school will have adequate sanitary facilities to enable girls to continue with their education past puberty (many girls have to quit school due to their menses). I did a paper on the disparity caused by lack of water back in college.

I'm asking for my age in dollars from everyone I know. Every penny of the money raised will directly fund clean water projects in developing countries. Even better, 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 reach my goal. Please donate to my birthday campaign!