The National Mothers Day Committee honored four other notables: Dr. Holly Atkinson, assistant professor of public health at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York; Maureen Chiquet, global CEO of Chanel; Mindy Grossman, CEO of HSN, retailer of lifestyle brands; and attorney Victoria Reggie Kennedy, wife of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Atkinson said being a stepmom is tough. "The hardest part is not being appreciated."

In the sixth grade, after a school meeting, Zoe took her mom into the library and showed her a book. "Look, mom," she said. "I found some books that don’t make stepmothers as stepmonsters."

Chiquet said she’s being honored as an outstanding mother only because she has outstanding children—and an extraordinary husband.

Grossman, who had been adopted as a child, lost both parents two weeks before the awards luncheon. "I was often asked," she said, "if I ever wanted to find my real parents. And I always answered, I already have."

Kennedy remembered her mother telling her, you can be everything you want to be. She said her daughter Caroline recently returned from Uganda where she helped set up urology clinics.

She lauded her "favorite nephew," Mark Shriver. "In communities where children are poor, there is one book for 300 children. I am so proud of the work you do in children’s literacy."

Shriver is vice president and managing director of Save the Children’s U.S. programs, helping children who live in areas of persistent rural poverty.

"We work with 50,000 kids daily," he said. "We help them achieve results."

He said the $2 million raised at this awards luncheon will aid Save the Children programs.

Laurie Dowley, VP of Elizabeth Arden and chairwoman of the National Mother’s Day Committee, announced that to date the National Father’s Day/Mother’s Day Council had donated $21 million to charities around the nation.