Porter Saunders wants to help others celebrate Mother’s Day ahead of their special day.

On Saturday, the DeKalb resident will give away flowers outside the Taylor Street Plaza apartments to help mark the occasion.

Saunders said he hopes all mothers, including his own, get the special recognition they deserve.

“It’s something to bring life to people that don’t have nobody, or nothing like that,” Porter Saunders said. “Hopefully, it will change the atmosphere of Taylor Street.”

Mother’s Day this year is Sunday, May 10. Saunders said he hopes the gesture is received by the community positively.

“I’ve been staying here for about three to four years, and I’m trying to uplift the building for everybody to be happy, get along, and love one another,” Porter Saunders said.

Saturday’s flower giveaway won’t be a one-off for Saunders.

His own mother, Deborrah Saunders, 70, lives in Iowa and is unable to make it on Saturday to receive her flowers.

But Saunders already made sure that his mother was treated to flowers last month. Around that time, Deborrah was in town visiting her son, who was serving up a free community dinner for residents of Taylor Street Plaza.

She said it was a nice gesture by her son.

“I wasn’t even looking for [any] roses,” Deborrah Saunders said. “I’m going to be honest, they were so pretty and red.”

Saunders said he had a caterer come in and cook all the food that residents enjoyed.

“I had about 150 to 200 people to come out, celebrate, and chitchat,” Porter Saunders said. “It made me feel good to see the people come out of their apartments to sit down here, communicate, laugh, and then talk. And they’re still talking about the dinner right now.”

Deborrah Saunders said she’s proud of her son and what he’s been doing to uplift his neighbors.

“Some people don’t have nobody to give them nothing,” she said. “They don’t even have people. Like that dinner, it was nice that he did that because these buildings where he live at, these people don’t do nothing.”

Saunders said he thinks the atmosphere at Taylor Street Plaza could use some energy at times to help uplift residents who might be sad.

The Hy-Vee grocery store in nearby Sycamore will be delivering all the flowers that Saunders plans to give away this Saturday.

“I just want to wish all the mothers in the United States a happy Mother’s Day and wish them well,” Saunders said. “I know some people don’t have their mother, but it’s still a great day.”

But there’s more to Saunders’s generosity.

He said he’s also planning to have a food truck stop by in mid-June to serve up BBQ outside Taylor Street Plaza.

“The Lord gave me the vision to do it again,” he said.

But things haven’t always been rosy in Saunders’s life.

“I was almost on the verge of being homeless,” he said.

Saunders said he had lost his job and was struggling to make payments on bills until recently. But he turned to DeKalb Township for assistance. By February, he landed his current job.

Saunders said he appreciates everyone who helped him in his time of need. He said he’s got a lot of love for his own mother.

“My mother means so much to me,” he said.

Growing up, Saunders lived in a single-parent household with his mother, raising five children. He described his childhood as a struggle, but said he believes that he and his siblings are making their mother proud.

“We all grown and doing our own thing,” he said.

Deborrah Saunders expressed gratitude for her children and what they do for her.

“I appreciate anything my children do for me,” she said. “I appreciate [it] because like I said, they don’t have to do anything.”