Hilary Swank, the two-time Academy Award winning actress, kicked off a race--known as the Blue Planet Run--to bring safe drinking water to 20 million people by 2015.

"We're gathered here to acknowledge that for over one billion people on this planet, safe drinking water is simply not available," the Hollywood actress said at the launch in New York of the first-ever around-the-world relay race to raise funds and spread awareness about the need for safe drinking water.

Swank also lauded the men and women participating in the race: "Because of your efforts on behalf of the one billion people who struggle daily to get the water they need to stay alive, I know I'll never take a glass of water for granted again."

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