WASHINGTON —  Susan Sarandon lent her star power to a Mother's Day protest against the Iraq war Sunday.

"I can't think of a better way to spend my mothers day," the actress told reporters before speaking.

Sarandon joined anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan onstage at the end of a 24-hour vigil in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. She read two letters addressed to first lady Laura Bush, one written by a woman from Oregon and another by herself.

She also brought a copy of the board game Risk, purportedly to be sent to Mrs. Bush along with the letters.

Sarandon's letter suggested that the first lady urge her husband to personally notify some mothers whose children died while serving in Iraq.

"Those moms praying as they wait for the phone to ring and they hear the voice of their child serving in Iraq," Sarandon said to a crowd of perhaps 200 people. "Let him be the one to tell them that this week the call will not be coming."

The protest was organized by Code Pink, a women's anti-war group.