I turn 21 this August. There's a lot of stigma surrounding this birthday in American culture. I'll be "old enough to drink." I will be of legal age to consume alcohol. And I'll be candid, I probably will. Not in raging excess, but I'll finally be old enough to go to a bar with my boyfriend and friends and taste wine at a vineyard with my mom.

All of the hype about what I'll consume on my birthday is just another reminder that every 1 person in 10 people lacks access to clean, safe water. The length of their wait to be "old enough to drink" depends on me. How old will they be when a water filtration system is built in their town? My 21st birthday is a call to action and a gift that so many people do not receive.

The statistics are shocking. Every day 1,400 children die from waterborne illnesses. The solution is simple: drilled wells and BioSand filters.

We shower in clean water. We wash our hands. We boil our food. We have a Brita filter in the fridge or a dispenser on its door. We buy flavored water. Because we can. Even my toilet water is clean. I don't have to walk more than 10 feet from where I am sitting typing this to fill a glass.

I have never been thirsty.

I want to see the entire world have access to clean, safe water in my lifetime. I want us to be the generation that makes that happen. We don't have to give. We GET to give.

For my 21st birthday, I'm asking my friends and family (and anyone and everyone) to donate $21 dollars to my charity: water campaign "Old Enough To Drink" because no one should have to wait to be old enough to drink water.