My firstborn turned three last week, and for his birthday party, his dad made a magnificent 3D cake, in the shape of a digger. If you have little boys I don’t need to explain to the almost primal appeal of construction vehicles. So while Dad baked the cake, Ace went to town on the batter. A time-honored tradition, indeed.

But what if, instead of Ace licking the batter spoon, he’d died from diarrhea? Or measles? Imagine if each year half of US children enrolling in kindergarten died of diseases prevented with vaccines – that’s how many die each year in developing world every year.

To support the critical work of a Shot@Life and to educate women about the need for vaccines for children in the developing world, I’ll be sharing facts, favorite childhood memories, and stories over the coming weeks on the Shot@Life Facebook page. I encourage you to do the same, to bring awareness and inspire action among us lucky moms who don’t have to worry about losing our children to diseases that can be easily prevented by a 99 cent vaccine.

My goal is that every time I smile over a photo of one of my children’s milestones in life, I take a small action to enable the same milestones for a child overseas.

Shot@Life is working to bring life-saving vaccines to the 1 in 5 children who don’t have access to them. This program saves the life of a child every 20 seconds by providing vaccines to children in areas that need them most.

More: Shot@Life educates, connects and empowers Americans to champion vaccines as one of the most cost-effective ways to save the lives of children in developing countries. A national call to action for this global cause, the campaign rallies the American public, members of Congress, and civil society partners around the fact that together, we can save a child’s life every 20 seconds by expanding access to vaccines. By encouraging Americans to learn about, advocate for, and donate vaccines, the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign will decrease vaccine-preventable childhood deaths and give children a shot at a healthy life. To learn more, go to ShotAtLife.org