Five years ago, my former roommate and I were in Rwanda looking for a ride from base camp to the foot of Parc National des Volcans, a dense, mountainous range of land between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – where we would have face-to-face encounters with mountain gorillas.

As fate would have it, two New Yorkers were in our group, and we rode with them. They were poking fun at one of their friends, who left a high profile club promoting career to “dig holes in Africa.” I was intrigued...I had just come from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where I saw a desperate need for access to clean water. Many people there collect their water from Lake Kivu, which sits upon an active volcano and is full of methane so toxic that in some places, the water will asphyxiate a person. The lake also serves as the final resting place for many victims of the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda. Yet – this is what many people were using as their primary water source for cooking, drinking, bathing…it was no surprise that three out of four of us visiting – myself included – got violently sick during our four days there, likely from water-related consumption.

When I got back to the U.S., I did some research and soon learned the man who wanted to “dig holes” was named Scott Harrison, and his little hole-digging venture was to provide wells and access to clean water in African communities – one small town at a time. The concept is basic: clean water provides the foundation for everything else that is needed to progress infrastructure.

A fellow Virgo, Scott developed a “born in September” campaign that was simple. Friends give donations to build wells, instead of presents, at his birthday party. Soon, he started asking others born in September to do the same. The idea caught on and five years later the organization has raised enough money to build nearly 4,300 wells in 19 countries, providing clean water to 2 million people.

It’s been five years since I was on a bumpy road in Rwanda, learning about a guy who left a swank job to help those less fortunate, and I have been quietly inspired each year as Charity Water grew. This year – I’ve decided to help. Not just help, but be a part of the process and experience what it’s like to enable a fellow human being gain access to the most basic need: water.

To mark the milestone of my 31st birthday, September 7, I committed to raise $31,000 for Charity: Water by January 7, 2012. If I reach that goal, with your help, we will have raised enough money to fund wells in over six communities, providing sanitary water to more than 1,500 people.

Please join me in being a small part of something BIG.

Why water? Watch: http://bit.ly/nKMVgE