These are my friends Esmeralda and Miguel and their children. They, like all of us, are lucky to be living in a place like Boulder, where they have clean water which comes out of a tap for drinking, bathing, cooking, and cleaning.

Unfortunately, some of their family members who live in Mexico don't have access to clean water and sanitation and they are more vulnerable to dehydration and water-borne illnesses.

Every day, about 1,400 little children like Lupito and Chuyita, the kids in the photo, die from diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are simple solutions like drilled wells, spring protections and BioSand filters that help provide clean water to communities around the world.

I started this year's fundraising campaign to help charity: water build these types of projects around the world, and I'm hoping you decide to join our efforts to change the world one water system at a time.

Please donate to my 66th birthday campaign -- anything you can give is a huge help.

100% of the money will be used to build clean water projects, and when they’re complete, charity: water will send us photos and GPS coordinates so we can see the exact community we helped.