Alyssa Milano donates birthday to charity

Alyssa Milano has "donated" her birthday to charity.

The actress told People that instead of receiving presents for her 37th birthday, she has asked her friends, family and Twitter followers to donate to Charity Water.

"I'm giving up my 37th birthday to hopefully raise $50,000 (£30,700) for clean water projects and sanitation projects in developing nations," she explained.

Milano has since reached her target and has now said that she hopes to raise $75,000 (£46,000).

"The generosity, it just blows my mind," she said. "People are donating a dollar, all the way up to like $4,000 (£2,400) just to feel good. And I think that's an important thing. I think that everybody wants to give - they just don't really know how to go about doing it.

"So when you have something that's so easy to do like Charity Water, it really gives people an outlet to say, 'OK, this is great, I can do this', and really give."

Milano joked that she would be angry if her My Name Is Earl and Castle co-stars hadn't donated.

She added: "But beyond that, I'm more blown away by just the regular people that live paycheque to paycheque that are helping me out through this birthday wish."