CliffsNotes/SparkNotes version for my fellow skimmers:

-I started this campaign for my 24th birthday because many children in places without clean water don’t even make it to age 5 and that's not okay.

-Dirty water kills more people (especially children) each year than all forms of violence, including war, combined.

The good news:

-In the last 5 years, the number of individuals without clean water has gone from 800 million to 663 million. That means progress is possible, it's happening, and we can be part of it. In fact, some of you already have been with me or otherwise (thank you).

-Over the last few years, my birthday campaigns (when combined with other campaigns) helped fund water projects that continue to impact the lives of 268 people in Tanzania via rehabilitation of a spring protection project and 450 people in Ethiopia via drilled well projects.

Through this campaign, we can contribute the building of another project or two that will serve hundreds more people for years to come.

-100% of the money will be used to build clean water projects (seriously, including the credit card fees which a group of 115 private donors takes care of for us and charity: water along with all the other overhead).

That means ALL of what we give will be used to impact people's lives.

-We'll get to see our impact as directly as possible (without getting on a plane) because when the project(s) are complete, charity: water will send us details, photos, and GPS coordinates so we can see the exact communit(ies) we helped.

Please join me and/or invite others to join me in giving the gift of clean water to as many people as we can for my birthday! Thank you!

------------------------------------------------------------

The "Melissa is so long-winded that it's annoying, but I'll read it anyway" version:

Let’s start with this:

I didn’t plan on starting a birthday campaign this year, but I decided to anyway (more on that below).

I have done campaigns in the past and been so thankful for and in awe of what we've accomplished together. At different times in the past 3 years, you, my family, friends, wonderful people I know, and even generous strangers helped fund water projects that continue to impact the lives of 268 people in Tanzania via rehabilitation of a spring protection project and 450 people in Ethiopia via drilled well projects. We did that along with other campaigns' contributions that were added together for the projects.

With this campaign, I’m hoping we can impact the lives of 8 more people (and contribute to a project that could serve a couple hundred more people once it’s finished) by raising $240 for my 24th birthday!

charity: water turned 10 years old on September 7th, and they inspired me to act again.

They created a video showing the last 10 years of progress. It featured many inspiring individuals who believed in the vision that one day, in our lifetimes, EVERYONE on Earth will have access to clean water (as I type this, it just feels strange and incredibly wrong that this somehow is still only a "vision").

You can watch that video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE9UvT5ujyg, but make sure to open it in a new tab so you can come back to this when you're finished. I'm confident that you'll want to, not because of me, but because of this vision that we can all help to make a reality.

I turned 24 at the end of August.

Many children in places that don’t have clean water don’t even have the opportunity to turn 5. It’s just unacceptable. Dirty water kills more people (especially children) each year than all forms of violence, including war, combined.

The good news and the proof that each of us can make a difference:

About 5 years ago, I found out about the water crisis through charity: water. At that time, the number of people who did not have access to clean drinking water and as a result often lost opportunities to get an education, provide for their families, became sick or worse was over 800 million.

Today, because of charity: water, its local partners, and many other organizations working to fight this crisis, that has gone down by over 100 million in just 5 years. It is now 663 million. Still huge, I know, but there's been a lot of progress, and no doubt thanks to some of you reading this right now.

One of the best parts is that we’ll all get to see the impact we’ve made. When the projects are complete, charity: water will send us details, photos, and GPS coordinates so we can see the exact community we helped.

Better still, 100% of the money will be used to build clean water projects (seriously, including the credit card fees which a group of 115 private donors takes care of for us and charity: water along with all the other overhead). That means ALL of what we give will be used to impact people's lives.

Let’s do this! I’ll start us off. I hope you can join me: share this, give what you can, or just send me some encouragement if you’d like. I was nervous about doing this but impacting the lives of others is worth a little bit of vulnerability and effort. Thank you and cheers to me getting old!

Possible perk/my promise: if you donate (it doesn't matter the amount) and you'd like me to, I will gladly send you either a hand-written thank you card OR a birthday card for your next birthday because I know how much many of us miss getting mail. If you'd like me to do that for you, tell me in the comment/message section when you donate and I'll reach out to you. If I know you personally or even fairly well online, there's a high chance that I already know your birthday by heart (meaning without checking Facebook). Go ahead, quiz me. ;) If I'm wrong or if I have to check Facebook, then I'll tell you and send you two cards.