Mothers & More Gives Diane Sawyer and Good Morning America “Apple of Our Eye” Award

ELMHURST, IL - After a rough start to approaching the complicated issues facing mothers and their reaction to those issues, ABC’s Good Morning America finally got it right on their “Mothers Make It Work” episode March 31, 2006.  According to Mothers & More, a national non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of mothers, the show’s conclusion was so right that the organization is honoring Diane Sawyer and the TV morning show with its “Apple of Our Eye” Award.

“By allowing a real dialogue between real mothers about the hurdles they face with balancing paid employment and family responsibilities, Good Morning America pioneered what mothers have been craving all along – recognition of this complicated issue and a public forum for addressing two things that all mothers know: the balancing act is not black and white and it is not only a mother’s personal problem,” says Joanne Brundage, founder and executive director of Mothers & More.

The Apple of Our Eye Award is given by Mothers & More to call attention to acts that honor the importance of caregiving work and respect mothers’ individuality and right to make their own decisions about how to care for themselves and their families.  By having a roomful of mothers representing different combinations of employment and caregiving, Good Morning America did what the organization has been asking for from the media for years: it allocated air time to the complicated issues mothers face so Americans can begin to understand these previously invisible problems. The mothers featured in the segment demonstrated that the “choice” of how to combine work and family is not as cut and dried as it seems.  A mother’s employer can have a positive impact on this problem and a large role in its solution.

“Many of our members left employers because of their unwillingness to work with them on flexible work arrangements — something that any employee might want—the workplace flexibility to handle personal and family needs and responsibilities,” says Brundage.  “Some workplaces have instilled a few flexible policies, but it’s been a very slow process and a lot of work still needs to be done.  Not until the general public acknowledges the benefits of flexibility to all – employers, employees and their families – will real change happen.”

Mothers & More is a national organization comprised of 6,000 members organized in over 140 chapters throughout the United States. They address mothers’ needs as individuals and members of society, and promote the value of all the work mothers do. For nearly 20 years, the organization has been bringing mothers together to weather the challenges they face, provide a network of support for one another, and advocate on mothers’ behalves.  For more information, go to www.mothersandmore.org.