The Million Mom March goes local this Mother's Day, with marches on dozens of state capitols planned for May 13th. Marchers will be following up last year's massive national march in Washington, DC, this time calling on state and local legislators to pass sensible gun laws.

Last year, hundreds of thousands of mothers arrived in Washington, DC, by car, by bus and by train with the slogan, "Sensible gun laws, safer kids." On Mothers Day 2000, they become part of a long tradition of mothers who have banded together to confront public health issues—cleaning the environment, improving children's health and challenging violence. The Million Mom March is the brainchild of Donna Dees-Thomases, a New Jersey mother who was so shaken by the Granada Hills, California day-camp shooting last year that nine days later, she applied for a permit to march in the nation's capital. Dees-Thomases then linked up with like-minded moms, and news of the march spread across the country.

The organization has struggled to maintain a national profile, and recently laid off most of its staff. But the grass-roots local chapters remain, and the message is still the same: in America, 12 children are killed by guns every day, and it's time for us to stop it. "We believe the way to change attitudes and laws is to do it at the grassroots level," says Mary Leigh Blek, National President of the Million Mom March. "A march on Washington calls attention to an issue, but real change begins at home, in our cities and states."

So on this Mother's Day, foster mothers, single mothers, stepmothers and den mothers, unite! Find strength in numbers, and through it, the courage to make change. Learn how mothers have joined together to make a difference for children and families through the decades.

Marching for a Polio VaccineOn the night of January 16, 1950, porches lit up throughout Phoenix, Arizona. Residents turned on their lights to greet mothers marching door to door in an effort to raise funds to respond to a severe polio outbreak. Their slogan: "Turn on your porch light—fight polio tonight." Volunteers collected more than $45,000 in only one hour, and the annual "Mothers March" for polio was born.

Like the Million Mom March, the Mother's March was an effort to create a safer world for all children. Polio was an epidemic that had crippled hundreds of thousands of U.S. children since the turn of the 20th century. The disease ranged in severity from mild infection to muscle paralysis and death. Its effects—iron lungs, leg braces, and wheel chairs—were visible in every walk of life.

Concerned mothers began by talking to their neighbors. What could they do about it? The first march was a local effort, but ultimately, their words spread across the country. If the federal government would not provide the funds for a vaccine, the marching mothers would. By 1955, the Mothers March had helped to fund the development of the Salk vaccine.

The Mothers March laid the foundation for the March of Dimes, an organization that fights birth defects in children. It continues today as a letter writing campaign. If you find a letter in your mailbox from the March of Dimes, you may think of the marching moms, and decide to help fight the 3,000 known birth defects that afflict more than 150,000 babies throughout the country each year.

Challenging Violence in AmericaIn 1994, Pamela Eakes left a 20-year career in advertising, marketing and public relations to do her "life's work"—the founding of Mothers Against Violence in America (MAVIA). Troubled by high rates of youth violence in our country, particularly during the years 1992 and 1993, Eakes gathered volunteers in Seattle, Washington, many of whom were mothers whose children had been affected by violence.

Following in the footsteps of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), a group that had changed public attitudes about drunk driving, MAVIA sought to change public attitudes regarding violence. No longer would people shrug their shoulders and say, "There's nothing we can do." Eakes wanted to show people that there was something they could do. Preventing violence was as much a citizen's responsibility as the prevention of drunk driving.

Through public awareness and education activities, the grassroots network of mothers successfully advocated for passage of the federal Assault Weapons Ban. They also helped gather support for the passage of legislation raising the age of possession of firearms in Washington from 14 to 18.

MAVIA now has 27 chapters in 23 states, each committed to advocating for a safer environment for all of America's children. MAVIA fully endorses the Million Mom March, and they have been active in the planning of Mother's Day events to bring awareness to gun control in Seattle.

Working for a Livable PlanetWhen you pick out a glossy red pepper or shiny apple at the grocery store, do you ever wonder if you will be exposing children to harmful pesticides? Do you think about the dangers of hormones in meat, or the chlorine in your water? Actress Meryl Streep and her Connecticut neighbors did. In 1989, they launched in a nationwide education campaign about the risks for kids in everyday foods.

They persuaded local supermarkets to sell organic foods. They sponsored a shoppers' campaign to mobilize consumers to spend their money on foods that were safe and grown in an environmentally responsible way. Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet, a nonprofit organization, grew out of their work in 1992.

Today, the organization has an active membership of 35,000, most of whom are mothers of children under 18. Whether it's a dangerous pesticide being sprayed on the trees or a hazardous chemical used by the neighborhood dry cleaner, Mothers & Others informs people about how they can take action. The award-winning Green Guide, their monthly report, provides information on consumer issues involving health and the environment.

Ending the Politics of "Otherness"Throughout history, mothers have mobilized to address many issues that affect the lives of children and families—not just their own kids, but the kids next door, down the block and across the country. But there are still many barriers to making every community work for kids. How can we galvanize even more mothers to recognize "epidemics" —whether dangerous diseases, chemicals, lethal weapons, or anything that prevents families from thriving?

In a 1996 address to Mothers' Voices, an organization that mobilizes families to educate young people about HIV/AIDS, journalist and author Anna Quindlen lamented a politics of "otherness" that permeates our country—a place in which many individuals feel they have nothing in common with larger groups.

Quindlen says we can establish a sense of connection, "If you think about 'those' people as much like us, if you think of 'their' children as like our children."

Mother's groups have the potential to break across economic and social barriers. They have the power to unite people across geographic boundaries. That's why Mothers' Voices targets moms to spread the word about public health issues, according to Development Manager Sue Graff. "It's simple," Graff says, "mothers are listened to."

And the more mothers speak, the more people will listen.

Email [1] Connect for Kids.