Have you ever said, "I'm dying of thirst?" If so, I bet you didn't really mean it. If you're like me, you don't spend too much time thinking about water - it's everywhere we go. When we're thirsty, we flip a handle or push a button. When we're dirty, we twist a shower knob. When our garden needs watering, when our pasta needs to be boiled, when we use the bathroom - water's just there for the taking. But for a billion people on the planet, it's not. Millions of women and children have to walk hours each day to get water from muddy ponds and rivers. And much of that water is infested with parasites and leeches. When I learned that only $20 can give someone clean, safe water for two decades, I decided to start a campaign to help. Now, my goal is to raise $5000 to build clean water projects in developing nations. And the cool thing about charity: water is that they spend 100% of the money I raise directly on the water projects. Even better, when projects are complete, every dollar is tied to a village and all the wells are posted on Google Maps. Roughly every 20 seconds a child dies of a preventable, water-borne illness. I've never actually been dying of thirst. And if you're like me, you'd like to see a world where no one does. Together, we can make a dent in the global water crisis. I hope you'll consider helping.

Much of my effort was inspired by Rachel Beckwith, a 9 year old that was killed in a car accident just outside of Seattle. All she wanted to do was raise $300 for clean water on her 9th birthday by giving up gifts. Since her death, she has raised more than $1.2 million which will help over 60,000 people. Such a tragic loss. This is her website if you would prefer to donate to her site instead:

http://mycharitywater.org/rachels9thbirthday

Rachel's story: Courtesy of CBS News

"CBS News correspondent Hattie Kauffman reports on Rachel Beckwith, a 9-year-old girl whose last wish before she died was to raise money for a charity. Then, Chris Wragge talks to Samantha Paul, the mother of Rachel Beckwith and Scott Harrison, the CEO of Charity: Water." --CBS News

Below is the video link to Rachel's story referenced above. Hopefully CBS will leave it up for a while. You will have to copy and paste the URL into your browser.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7375193n&tag=contentMain%3BcontentBody

All donations through this site will be matched dollar for dollar up to $5000 out of my own pocket. Please, however, don't let that deter you from contributing to Rachel's site. In her memory.