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 is just there for the taking.

But for almost 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 bacteria, parasites or leeches.

When we learned that only $20 can give someone access to clean, safe water, we decided to start a campaign to help. Our goal in 2012 is to raise $10,000. charity: water will use 100% of the money to directly fund the water projects in the field. Even better, when the projects are complete, they'll show us just where our money went. That's right -- we'll be able to see the GPS coordinates, photos and other details about the community we've impacted!

I've never actually been dying of thirst. I'm sure we'd all like to see a world where no one does.

Together, we can make a dent in the global water crisis. We hope you'll consider helping.