Lisa Kudrow Wants a Nuclear-Free Mother's Day

Actress Lisa Kudrow has posted a special plea for this Mother's Day, May 10. "Did you know that Mother's Day in America originated as a day to celebrate peace?" she asks in the video message, "The holiday traces its roots to a mother's plea for peace after the Civil War."

I met Lisa and her family at a special dinner she and her husband hosted for the Ploughshares Fund last year. Now, she has teamed up with us in a Mother's Day for Peace campaign to urge people everywhere to honor their mothers with a gift of peace. "This year marks a moment of unprecedented hope for change, a year when President Obama and leaders from around the world have pledged to work together to build a nuclear weapon-free world," she says. "This is the year when all of us can join together to help set a new direction for global nuclear policy."

Lisa is best known for her role as Phoebe Burray in the popular television series Friends, for which she won an Emmy and two Screen Actors Guild awards. Her film credits include comedic roles in Hotel for Dogs, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, Analyze This and its sequel, Analyze That. She is now the executive producer for the series Who Do You Think You Are? in which celebrities trace their family trees.

The actress asks sons and daughters to visit the Mothers Day for Peace website and add their voices to the growing call for zero nuclear weapons. While there, they can also make an online donation in their mothers' honor (or in honor of another special person). In exchange, Ploughshares Fund will send the honoree a bouquet of roses, a sterling silver peace necklace or a handwritten card, telling her that a gift of peace has been made in her honor. Donations will support dozens of organizations and people who are working to seize this unique moment and build a safer future for children and families worldwide.

"Mothers may only get one day out of the year set aside just for us," says Kudrow, "but by celebrating May 10th as Mother's Day for Peace, you can help ensure a brighter, more peaceful future for our children."

Click below to see Lisa Kudrow's video: