Lately I've been thinking I don't really need anything for my birthday (Jan 20th). I do want something, though--to give. I want to inspire people to give, too.

We take clean drinking water for granted. Even I have, though I of all people truly shouldn't. This cause is one close to the heart. Here's why.

In 1995 (I was three), during my first trip to India, I drank some very unclean water. I had a case of diarrhea which I very nearly died from. Apparently, this results in the deaths annually of over a million people over the age of 5 and a 1.5 million under 5.

So my close encounter with death has motivated me to be thankful for the 20 years that I've been given, and I encourage you to give to the people that still suffer from this problem around the world.