by Jessica Carreras
Mother's Day may be two months away, but for Sherry Duquet and Sandra Boulton, celebrating moms and the beauty and strength of all women is a year-round job.
The couple owns Solstice Designs, a jewelry company with handmade, one-of-a-kind pieces. But more than just a business, their venture has spawned a way to honor moms in domestic abuse shelters. Named like an army mission, Project Mother's Day provides hand-crafted pieces of jewelry to children in shelters across the U.S., which are then gifted to their moms on that special day. What started out as a small effort exclusively with First Step of Michigan, Project Mother's Day – now in its fifth year – aims to send out almost 500 necklaces to 15 domestic abuse shelters.
It's more than Duquet and Boulton ever could have imagined. "It was just a bizarre, crazy idea and we weren't even sure it would work," Duquet recalls.
"We weren't even sure that the shelter would want them, because obviously they have very immediate needs that they're taking care of. In that case, your immediate needs are most important, but how can we nurture their souls? So I wasn't sure they'd want them, but they did."
So much so that the project has grown every year it has existed, standing in sharp contrast to the economic woes of most efforts – both profitable and charitable. This year, a happy edition to Project Mother's Day is a Web site with capabilities to accept online donations – something the couple hopes will help spur more contributions. "We got clients from across the country and they wanted to donate, but we made it difficult," Duquet explained. "I think we would have even received more last year if we had given them the opportunity. So I'm just really excited. … I know people want to support it, so we need to give them an easier way to do that."
Donations are already flowing and will be accepted continuously for the ongoing project, although the cut-off for funds going toward this year's Mother's Day effort will happen in early April. At that time, Boulton and Duquet will order the pieces to make the jewelry and get to work to finish in time for an April 26 deadline, at which point the wrapped necklaces will be shipped out.
Previous pieces have focused on the courage within, love and faith and similar inspirational messages. This year's inner strength motto will be manifested in a necklace with three sterling silver hand-pounded washers, the middle of which will read "strength."
"You may forget it's there or your light may dim, but your inner strength is always there," Duquet said. "We're just bringing it back to you so that you know it's there."
But though Duquet and Boulton knew what they wanted their message to women to be each year, neither could have anticipated how important the cause was in these shelters. A meeting with a counselor from First Step last year opened their eyes to just how powerful their jewelry donations are.
"She was explaining that it's one of the most celebrated days of the year, because think about what that means: Mom is not only her own hero, but she's my hero, and what a way to celebrate her on Mother's Day," Boulton said of the light-bulb moment. "Each individual person's birthday might be significant, but Mother's Day unilaterally is significant because you're either honoring yourself as a mother, or you're honoring your own mother or other mothers for standing up and protecting their family."
"If you're a child there, nothing is normalized for you," Duquet elaborated. "You don't go to school, you can't make a Fruit Loop necklace. Mother's Day in school is a really big deal because you're empowered to make something for your mom."
"That wasn't even the mission at first," Boulton admitted. "But we get it now."
And they're not the only ones. Each year, the couple marvels as volunteers come out of the woodwork to help make Project Mother's Day go smoothly. Whether through donations, helping with their annual Champagne and All Things Chocolate fundraiser (held March 24 this year at Dearborn Hills Golf Club) or by actually aiding in making the necklaces, Boulton and Duquet praise the boundless amount of help they get in executing their project.
Boulton said she hopes the families who receive the gifts can feel the love put into them. "There's no way they couldn't feel it when they opened that box," she insisted. "That happened because of a lot of people you'll never meet across the country felt that you deserved an opportunity to give mom a gift and mom, to receive a gift because you're special and we honor you. I think that's pretty remarkable."
Almost as incredible as the fact that Boulton and Duquet have given so much of their time to the project. Though the couple has no children of their own (aside from their two dogs), they believe every person has a connection to the idea that honoring mothers – and women in all roles – is crucially important.
Each story of that connection is different, but interrelated: Men who spent time with their own family in a domestic abuse shelter. Women who have escaped from a horrible home situation. Mothers who have worked two jobs to support their families. Daughters, sisters, aunts, grandmothers and friends who give and deserve to be honored.
Project Mother's Day, along with Solstice Designs, celebrates them all.
"It doesn't need to be about domestic abuse in the piece itself," Boulton stressed, adding that each piece is up for sale after its Project Mother's Day debut, and that proceeds still benefit the shelters. "In this case, we're giving it to women in domestic abuse shelters, but the piece is meaningful and powerful, no matter what your journey."
To learn more about Project Mother's Day, visit http://www.projectmothersday.com.
