This year, I'm giving my birthday up. I'm turning 14 years

old and instead of asking for gifts, I'm asking for $14 from

everyone I know. It's not going to me, though. All of it is

going to build freshwater projects for people in developing

countries. Almost a billion people in the world are living

without clean water. Millions of people get deadly

diseases from contaminated water. 30,000 people will die

this week alone. My birthday wish this year is not for

more gifts I don't need; it's to give clean and safe drinking

water to some of the billion people living without it. The

best part: 100% of all donations go directly toward water

projects. And about 18 months after this campaign ends,

charity: water will show us where and how every dollar

we raised ended up helping in the field. We'll see GPS

coordinates, photos, and more details about the

communities we've impacted. At first, I thought this

seemed surreal, but then I found out that millions of

people don't live to see their fifth birthdays. And why?

Because they don't have access to clean, safe water.