My name is Leo Kagan. I am 9 years old. I'm turning 10 on November 12, 2013.

9 - 10 - 11- 12 - 13!!!

Because this birthday feels kind of special, I've decided to give it up for charity: water.

What does "giving up my birthday" mean?

Well, instead of giving me presents or sending birthday cards, I'm asking everyone I know to donate $10 (since it's my 10th bday) to charity: water, and help me bring clean water to people in need.

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. I'd really like to help change that.

My goal is raise $1,112.13 (11/12/13!). Originally, I wanted to raise $111,213, but my mom said that seemed a little overambitious. Wouldn't it be cool if I proved her wrong? :)

What's really awesome about charity: water is that 100% of the money we raise will directly fund water project costs in the field. When the project we help fund is complete, they'll send us a digital completion report with GPS coordinates and photos of the community we helped. Pretty cool, right?

I hope you will do whatever you can to help me reach my goal. Every donation helps, no matter how small.

Thank you for celebrating this very special birthday with me!

- Leo