Americans spent an eye-popping $14.6 billion on mother’s day gifts last year – between restaurants, flowers, jewelry, spa treatments and the like.

No doubt moms deserved every bit of that pampering.

But what if we were able to direct a tiny percentage of those billions, say 1%, to support a cause that would benefit mothers everywhere?

That’s exactly what one savvy, connected woman, Holly Pavlika, thought. She asked herself, “What if moms got together and said “Instead of a big gift, buy me a small present and donate the difference to the cause…just think about all the good we could do.”

So, she got organized and put together a movement, which is calling on all of us who won the geographical lotto at birth to support mothers the world over this mother’s day via EveryMotherCounts.org.

Did you know that 1,000 women die each day from childbirth complications? Until women have access to the care they need to survive pregnancy, maternal mortality rates will remain unacceptably high. We have the knowledge to prevent 90% of all maternal deaths, now we just need the money. Be a part of the change.

There are two ways to make a difference:

• a small donation through EveryMotherCounts and Save the Children
• your old cell phones donated through Hope Phones. (They supply everything and pay the costs of shipping.)

Then make your support official by joining thousands of other moms to spread the word about maternal health by hitting the “like” button on www.facebook.com/havemomentum.

Can we count you in?