John,

In 2008, both of my sons, Nathan and Philip, were wrongly convicted for the murder of a woman in Cabell County, West Virginia. It took 14 long years before they were finally exonerated.

The pain of having your sons taken away for a crime they didn’t commit, and worrying about what would happen to them in prison, is something that I’d never wish on any parent.

Before this experience, I believed in our systems — I thought they were built to ensure fairness for everyone involved. But after seeing what happened to my sons, my eyes were really opened to all of the injustices in our legal system, and I can’t stay silent about it.

That’s why, in honor of Mother’s Day, I’m asking you to make a donation to the Innocence Project. They fight every single day to free innocent people like my sons and reunite families — and all donations up to $30,000 will be matched, so it’s really the best time to give.

Seeing your children, the people you love most in the world, be sent to prison for something they didn’t do is completely heartbreaking. It changes you, and I don’t want any mother to have to go through what I went through.

Thankfully, because of the work the Innocence Project does, my kids are free today. While we’ll never be able to get back those 14 years that were stolen from us, we can now rebuild as a family and move forward — and I’ll forever be grateful to everyone who played a role in their exonerations.

So please, make a gift this Mother’s Day and your donation will be matched to help the Innocence Project work to free other families from this nightmare. If your gift can help even one person be reunited with their family, it’s completely worth it, trust me.