Each Friday, the another jennifer blog shares stories of those who incorporate philanthropy into their everyday lives – personally and professionally – in a creative and unique way. If you have a story you’d like to share, please contact Jennifer. You can view past posts from the series here.

In honor of Mother’s Day this weekend, I thought I would share some of the philanthropic ways in which you might celebrate and honor the women who do it all 365 days per year. Most of these examples came through my inbox or newsfeed over the past week or two. If you have other suggestions, please let me know in the comment section!

National Women Build Week is in full swing this week. More than 13,00 women across the United States are helping to build or repair homes at Habitat for Humanity construction sites. It is not a coincidence that this weeklong event, sponsored by Lowe’s, leads up to Mother’s Day. According to a press release from Habitat for Humanity and Lowe’s:

“The U.S. Census Bureau reports more than 16.1 million children are living in poverty in the United States. Nearly 24% of children reside with women heads-of-household. Since Habitat’s Women Build program was created in 1998, more than 2,200 homes have been built in partnership with low-income families using Women Build crews. More than 52,000 women from all 50 states have volunteered at the six previous National Women Build Week events.”

While my schedule did not allow me to participate this year, I am still proud of the work I did on Nyapeni’s home last year. Working on a construction site with other women was truly empowering. You can read about my experience and Nyapeni’s amazing story here.
Read more about Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program and find out how you can be involved.
There’s still time to thank a mom on the Global Opportunity Quilt. When you make a donation of any size, you’ll get to choose a digital quilt patch, create a message, and help Opportunity International empower more than 3,000 women and transform the lives of thousands more. Some generous donors will even match your donation, doubling the impact of your gift! The moms in my life enjoyed this gift immensely last year.

I recently wrote about being an ambassador for INDIGENOUS, a company that specializes in organic and fair trade fashion. Well, they have partnered with a sustainable Jewelry company called Hovey Lee for a very cool Mother’s Day giveaway. When you enter the Mom + Love + Style contest, you could win a $200 shopping spree with INDIGENOUS and Hovey Lee. You even get a a coupon code for 20% when you enter. Win-win!

Save the Children just released their new State of the World’s Mothers (#SOWM) report, along with the poignant video above. As stated in a recent email from Save the Children:

“We know that talking about mothers and babies struggling to survive during war and disaster isn’t sexy. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be doing something about it.”

My good friend Nicole Melancon at ThirdEyeMom wrote a great post about the report. I encourage you to take the time to read it and the report and discuss the importance of supporting mothers around the world over brunch on Sunday.

Of course, where there are mothers, there are also children. You may have heard about the abduction of more than 275 school girls in Nigeria. These girls were taken from their boarding school and it has been reported that many will eventually be sold as brides for $ 12 each. All because they were girls trying to get an education. Imagine being the mother of one of these children.

You can join Girl Rising and Catapult in supporting education for girls in Nigeria and around the world by donating to the Bring Back Our Girls Emergency Project on Catapult or simply texting BRINGBACK to 50555 to give $10 in support of Bring Back Our Girls.

There’s also a petition on Change.org you can sign to show your solidarity with the kidnapped girls, ask the world not to forget them, and support all efforts to ensure their safe return.

How will you honor mothers on Mother’s Day this weekend?

this post was also published on pplkind.com