This year I'm turning 35 and I have everything I need. That's not the case for the nearly billion people world wide who don't have access to clean drinking water.

Every day, 5,000 kids die from water-related illnesses before they reach their fifth birthday. As the mom of a five year old and a one year old, this statistic pulls at my heart.

Particularly, when there are simple solutions like drilled wells, spring protections and BioSand filters that could help provide clean water to communities *if* they had the funds to build them.

Your generous donations have already helped me meet my initial goal of raising $700 -- a week before my birthday! Do you think we can make it to $1000 by Sept 10th?

100% of every dollar you donate 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.

Thank you for reading this and helping to provide clean water to the community of Orissa, India.