Mother's Day Made Special for Some Children

But dozens of kids at the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford are not afforded that opportunity, so some volunteers helped them enjoy what otherwise could be a difficult holiday.

Katherine Wainwright, for example, couldn't be with her mother on Sunday.

"It's kind of hard, especially for the little kids. They don't take Mother's Day very well," she said.

Katherine and about 30 other kids she lives with spent the afternoon with their second family from the Masonic Home, and volunteers from the Exhange Club at Raleigh's Pullen Park, as a way to celebrate the day.

"A lot of people don't get time to spend with their mothers because they're at the home, so it gives them enough time to spend with their cottage parents -- who act like their mothers," Katherine said.

The Exchange Club has brought children from the Masonic Home to Pullen Park every Mother's Day for 16 years.

Some of the children are orphans. Others, like Katherine, moved to Oxford because of problems at home.

"A lot of the kids from Oxford do not have mothers, because of broken homes and different reasons," said volunteer Hal Thompson. "So we feel it's an appropriate time to help keep them from some bad memories."

Rosalyn Peele remembers those feelings well. She lived at the Masonic Home 48 years ago. She says she understands how difficult Mother's Day can be for some of these kids.

"It's just a wonderful opportunity for the kids to know there is outside things," she said. "We didn't have that opportunity when I was there."