With Mother’s Day this Sunday, I would like to put aside the news stories, this week, and commend Johnson & Johnson for their commitment to helping moms and kiddos all over the world as they launched the “For All You Love” campaign.

Not only is J&J planning  to donate $25,000, this Mother’s Day, to Save the Children®, but the For All You Love campaign celebrates the selfless and unconditional caring of caregivers, including moms, and all the ways they care for those they love.

I was asked to have this post serve as a tribute to someone in my life who I love and care about.  The first person to pop into my mind was my very dear friend, Lourdes.

Photo – OneLife Photography

Although I spoke with Lourdes over the phone and emailed back and forth about five years ago for the first time, it wasn’t until I was pregnant with Jett that we actually met.  We became fast friends, and I wouldn’t trade her for anyone in the world.  She is the most caring, selfless person I know, and I would love to be just a fraction more like her each day.

Lourdes has been through a lot.  She is a single, homeschooling, working mom of four great kiddos, and when she was newly pregnant with her newest little one, just days after being admitted to the hospital because of a miscarriage scare (labor was stopped and mom and baby were fine), she found out that her mother had breast cancer.

With her kids and herself to take care of, Lourdes did everything she could to help her mom.  She took her to all of her appointments, held her hand, stayed by her side, prayed with her, and did everything she could to help keep her spirits up through all of her treatments.

Midway through her pregnancy, Lourdes received the devastating news that her her otherwise healthy brother had testicular cancer and massive tumors on his spine causing him not to be able to walk.

Lourdes spent weeks juggling trips to and from the hospital and doctors appointments with both her mom and her brother as well as working as a birth assistant and doula, homeschooling, and just being a mom.  She became, essentially, a primary caregiver for herself, her unborn baby, her three children, her mom, and her brother.

When she went into labor, things progressed so quickly, that even though she was planning a home birth with one of our other good friends as her midwife, and me there as her doula, she pretty much went through labor and most of the birth unassisted.  Our midwife showed up in the last few seconds of her birth.  Her mom and oldest son helped her through most of her labor and birth.

Now that her mom has completed her radiation treatments, she continues to take her brother to his appointments, and she will be by his side during his upcoming surgery and recovery – all the while, helping to maintain an as-normal-as-possible atmosphere for her kids at home.

I tell you all about Lourdes, because she is the epitome of a selfless and unconditional loving caregiver, which is the whole purpose of the For All You Love campaign.

This Mother’s Day, while you’re thinking about those you love, remember the For All You Love campaign and the difference Johnson & Johnson is making in the lives of mothers and caregivers all over the world through Save the Children®.

In celebration of Mother’s Day this year, don’t forget about JOHNSON’S® Baby CARES Care Cards, For every digital e-card you send, share or like, JOHNSON’S®  Baby will donate $1.00 to Save the Children® (up to $150,000) to benefit early childhood education programs that foster education and reassurance for new moms. These cards will not only spread encouragement to Moms throughout the country but will also provide Moms in need with the skills and knowledge to successfully support their child’s growth.

Disclosure: This is a partnered post with Johnson & Johnson Corporate and The Motherhood as part of my participation in promoting the For All You Love Campaign.  All opinions are my own.