charity: water Celebrates Birthdays With A Cause

charity: water, a non-profit organization whose mission is "to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations" has a lot to celebrate this month.

For one, their founder, Scott Harrison, celebrated his 33rd birthday. Second, the company turned three. But most of all, charity: water has launched a September campaign that really puts it on our map. Each month, not just September, the company encourages people to give up gifts in exchange for donations to their cause.

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In September of 2008, over 800 people did this. Along with matching gifts, the charity: water site states that almost $1,000,000 was raised to bring clean water to people in Ethiopia. Additionally, since then, charity: water has been busy building a website where everybody can give up their birthday but also use weddings, anniversaries and holidays-run marathons, climb mountains, and jump out of planes-or just create a fundraising page to give people clean drinking water.

So why all the water? Here are a few fun facts:

*According to www.charitywater.org, one billion people on the planet don't have access to safe, clean drinking water.

* The statistics show that unsafe water and lack of sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease and kill more people than all forms of violence, including war.

Lastly, www.charitywater.org mentions that our planet is 70% water, 97.5% of that is saltwater which leaves only 2.5% remaining for the 6 billion people on the planet today.

Celebs that support charity: water include Entourage's Adrian Grenier, Jennifer Connelly and America's Next Top Model Runner Up Yaya DaCosta.

Our Hollywire readers can support charity: water a few ways-buy their amazing apparel, donate in the name of a loved one, or buy one of the charity: water Thermos hydration bottles. If you happen to be September born or just want to support a great organization and cause, be sure to check out the donation set up and start your own charity: water campaign at http://mycharitywater.org