Like many of our readers, we tend to celebrate Mother's Day with flowers, gifts, and other items to show mom just how much we care. While this is a wonderful (and much appreciated!) tradition, there is an alternative to the commercial holiday. Enter: Mother's Day Movement.

Founded by a small group of women, Mother's Day Movement is an organization that seeks to make Mother's Day even more meaningful by raising money for women around the world. For the past several years, MDM has been raising funds for worthy causes like Shining Hope for Communities, a charity that aids children in Kiberia, Kenya's most economically depressed area, and The Fistula Foundation, which works to help women suffering from obstetric fistula.

This Spring, MDM is partnering with Saving Mothers for their 2012 campaign. Saving Mothers is an organization dedicated to reducing maternal mortality rates around the globe. Every year, over 300,000 women die in the process of becoming mothers. This number is scary, huge and easily changed. Through their simple, community-based projects (like distributing birthing kits to women in Sierra Leone), Saving Mothers is working to lower this figure and help women in developing countries experience a safer, healthier motherhood.

While we truly believe that Mother's Day is always meaningful—expressing your gratitude is always a good thing—MDM is trying to change the way we think of the holiday. Instead of simply buying some tulips and calling it a day, MDM encourages you to consider the significance of motherhood—and the dangers it can often pose.

Feeling inspired? Check out the Mother's Day Movement website before the holiday passes us by. If you can't donate right now, be sure to share the knowledge on Facebook or Twitter—when it comes to global issues like maternal health, every little bit of awareness helps.