For those who know me, you know I prefer to keep my birthdays relatively private, celebrating with my family in a low key, mellow way.

But this year is different. I've got a big milestone, the big 5-0! For this birthday, I realized I could do something I usually don't do: I could make a BIG deal out of it. I realized I could do something to reflect how grateful I am for all that I have without making it about me...

Many of us have no idea what it's like to be thirsty. I mean really, really thirsty. So thirsty that we would drink dirty, brackish water we knew could make us sick because we didn't have any other choice.

This is reality for many people around the world. Every day, about 1,400 children die from diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. I had heard these kinds of facts before, but my reaction was to think "this problem is so big, I really couldn't put much of a dent in it."

This isn't true though. With your help, we can absolutely make a difference. There are simple solutions like drilled wells, spring protections and BioSand filters that help provide clean water to communities around the world.

One organization that is building these types of projects is Charity: Water. Charity: Water manages its organization in such an efficient, transparent way that 100% of money raised to build clean water projects is guaranteed to be spent on those projects. And when the work is done, they'll provide us with GPS coordinates, photos and information about the exact communities we've impacted. .

Would you consider participating in my birthday campaign? Any type of support will make a real difference! On average, it takes just $30 to bring clean water to one person. $10,000 will fund the construction of a full water project (such as a well) and bring 300 people clean water.

(And for those of you who still feel like you want to buy me a gift certificate for a year's supply of In-N-Out or Super Bowl tickets or one of those fancy massage chairs that envelopes you like an IronMan costume for my birthday - turn all that goodness into an even larger donation.) ;-)

Thanks!
David