Last year, on my seventeenth birthday, I cried. I have always made birthdays a big deal in the past, but in a greedy way. I have been dreaming of my eighteenth birthday since I saw my sister turn eighteen, six years ago, and I watched as my brother blew out his eighteen candles a few years later. It's an incredible milestone, and this time I want to make my birthday a big deal, but in a different way. A less selfish way.
This November my birthday will be about so much more than cake and balloons, it will be about bringing a dozen people clean water in impoverished nations, namely Cambodia and India.
I mean, crying on my seventeenth birthday? How foolish I was. I'm incredibly lucky to have even lived that long! Many children in the world don't even live past the age of five because they don't have access to clean drinking water.
Years ago I saw my brother make a difference by providing people in Indonesia with clean water, and now I want to follow suit.
I'm a vegan, I love animals, and I have recently discovered the reality of some of the issues involving human rights and the environment we have today. One of the things that has long brought me dismay is the fact that there are people caught in the poverty cycle, unable to access necessities such as clean water and shelter, that, in comparison, have been provided for me constantly. I'm grateful for the life i've been given, but that's not enough. Something needs to be done to impact those that have to struggle for the essentials, and I want to start as soon as I can, before I even officially become an adult.
I will also be involving myself with FEED and Books for Africa this year for my birthday and holiday season. Here's to hoping this becomes a lasting tradition for years to come!
Please take the time to donate my age ($18 for 18 years lived) and support me in my cause!

p.s. I also recommend looking up ways to conserve water on a day-to-day basis.