Pennsylvanians for Human Life and Lifeline volunteers, from left, Mary Jo Koch, Betty Jane Furka and Mary Jean Montag look over the proof of the Mother's Day ad Monday at Lifeline's office in Butler. The ad has been published for 32 years and the $2 for each submission goes to the anti-abortion organizations they volunteer for.

Come Sunday, countless children will honor their mothers. In Butler County, some 1,800 of them will be honored publicly in print.

As their names appear in a two-page ad, the mothers will be true to their role, putting children first.

“I think it’s important to promote motherhood and the sanctity of life,” said Betty Furka, 78, of Butler Township, who coordinates the project.

“There has to be someone saying babies are precious.”

Published for 32 years, the ad contains 20 columns of women’s names, divided under headings that designate honors or memorials.

Furka gets the names from 18 area churches, which collect $2 for each submission.

Although many of the churches are Catholic, other denominations also participate.

With help from a list of others including Mary Jo Koch, 77, of Butler, Furka coordinates the ad’s production, beginning a month before Mother’s Day and spending uncounted hours collecting, organizing and proofreading the lists.

“I can’t imagine how much time we spend just proofreading,” Furka said, noting repetition has led her to recognize the repeat names from year to year.

“Of course the people at each of the churches, they get involved,” Koch noted. “They put time in on it.”

Receiving no compensation for their time, the women donate proceeds to two Butler anti-abortion groups: Pennsylvanians for Human Life and Lifeline, a crisis pregnancy center.

“We don’t care for abortions,” Furka said. “We feel like we’re the voice of the unborn.”

Furka and Koch volunteer for both groups and both have worked on the ad since its inception.

“(We do it) primarily so the message that gets out is that motherhood is really a blessing, and the profit we make in it we use toward pro-life activities,” said Koch.

Bob Cararie, chairman of PHL, said the donation helps that group distribute its quarterly newsletter as well as host a farm show booth and an annual March for Life bus trip to Washington, D.C.

Also involved with the ad since its inception, Cararie said fundraising has never been the purpose.

“Although we do it for the fundraiser, we do it because we want to recognize mothers,” he said.

“Certainly, it’s important. But ... we’re trying to say mothers are important.

“It’s a pretty impressive two-page ad,” he added. “She has people at each church that collect the money and all that — but she does a fantastic job.”

Furka said not all churches participate, but those that do have discovered the project by word-of-mouth. The ongoing success, she said, stems from the church volunteers who help her gather the names.

“Most of them have been very faithful,” she said.

The ad will appear in the May 8 edition of the Butler Eagle.