A Mother's Day Unlike Any Other

by Joseph Cirincione

My mother was a strong woman. After my father's early death, she raised five kids, working as a secretary. We gave her a hard time, and on Mother's Day we always gave her flowers and candy.

This year, I want to do more than that, in her memory. I'm sending a dozen roses through Ploughshares Fund to my older sister who helped raise us four younger boys. I'm sending a dozen more to my loving wife who has raised two beautiful, talented children with me over the last 30 years. This year, my gifts for these mothers will be more than a gesture of affection. They will also raise funds for one of the most important causes in the world--freeing us from the threat of nuclear weapons.

President Obama this month stood in historic Prague and committed our country to pursuing a world without nuclear weapons. He said now is the time that “the voices of peace and progress must be raised together.”

I truly believe that together we can forge the political will and the public involvement needed to eliminate all nuclear threats.

Will you join me? Send your mother--or your sister, wife or other special person--a dozen roses or a sterling silver peace necklace, and a card, telling her that you have taken a stand, in honor of Mother’s Day, for a peaceful, nuclear weapon-free future.

My mother would be proud.

Joe Cirincione is the Ploughshares Fund President, based in Washington, D.C.