When President Harry Truman declared a day of prayer in 1945 for the end of World War II in Europe, he thought it was fitting for it to be on Mother’s Day.  For mothers felt joy and relief that their sons and daughters were safe with the war finally ending. 

On that Mother’s Day (May 13, 1945) Mrs. Isadore Levine got a telegram from overseas. It could have meant many things, but as the Hartford Courant reported it was “the best Mother’s Day message she could imagine.” It was from her son Lawrence who was a flight officer with the U.S. Air Force. Lawrence had been missing since March 22. He had been shot down by German forces and held prisoner until V-E Day on May 8, 1945. 

Mrs. Katherine Michalik also got a message from her son Joseph who had been missing in action since February 23rd. As reported by the Courant, Joseph was now free after being held prisoner by the German forces. The wonderful news that Joseph was safe was “the nicest Mother’s Day present anyone could have.”

Mother’s Day in 1945 was a day to pray for peace and to help those who had suffered loss. Later that year the war in the Pacific would come to an end, bringing the fighting of World War II to a close.  

This Mother’s Day we too should pray for peace as multiple wars across the globe are causing anguish and heartbreak for many families. This Mother’s Day is also about saving children who are in peril because of hunger, poverty and conflict. 

This year mothers in Haiti are also getting the best gift, one that can save the lives of their children. The U.S. Food for Peace program just donated supplies to Haiti, a country which has seen violence and unrest. Hunger and malnutrition threaten lives daily in Haiti. Food is in desperate need making the U.S. donation urgent. The UN World Food Program (WFP) will distribute the food within Haiti. 

According to a WFP press release the Food for Peace donation will help “supply fortified cereal and special nutritious food to targeted households, while offering malnutrition screening and education sessions to families, including those living in sites housing displaced people — all with the goal of preventing malnutrition among children.”

Another part of the donation will help expand school meals to 100,000 more hungry children in Haiti. The charity Mary’s Meals also provides school meals in Haiti, which are lifesaving. A program that feeds hungry children while also allowing them to get an education is a great gift for a mother.

This Mother’s Day can inspire us to expand the feeding of malnourished kids worldwide. With all the wasteful spending on wars and armaments, it’s time we rededicated those resources to save more children. Even a fraction of war spending would save many more children from deadly malnutrition. 

This Mother’s Day we could each tell Congress to increase Food for Peace funding and feed more children around the globe. Right after World War II we boosted child feeding in Europe and Asia and it saved millions of lives. 

When President Dwight Eisenhower started the Food for Peace program it helped rescue kids in war-torn South Korea from malnutrition. Eisenhower also had child feeding taking place in countries still recovering from World War II, including Japan and Italy.  

We definitely need to be thinking more about helping hungry children and mothers. Just like we feed impoverished kids and mothers at home through the WIC program and others, we need to be doing more for children overseas, too. 

Mother’s Day should be about compassion for children, wherever they may be. For there are millions of mothers right now who need the gift of food to save their children. There are millions of mothers waiting for peace so their children can be safe. We should be united to help all these mothers and children, for it is the only true path to a world of peace and justice.  

William Lambers is the author of “The Road to Peace” and partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book “Ending World Hunger.” His writings have been published by the Washington Post, Newsweek, Cleveland Plain Dealer, History News Network and many other news outlets.