Aleeza Granote is among 10 local leaders to be honored as the 2026 Women of Achievement (Family Support) at the 71st Anniversary Luncheon at the Ritz-Carlton on May 19. Granote, who is a social worker, was selected for the award for her...

The Jewish Light is now accepting nominations for its 17th annual Unsung Heroes awards, recognizing individuals and groups whose work makes a meaningful impact—often without recognition. The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. Friday, July 3. Nominations...

  On Christmas Eve in 1994, Holly Bernstein and some of her friends from Washington University Hillel headed to the St. Peter and Paul homeless shelter in Soulard to serve dinner. The experience was meaningful in a couple of ways. It was a way...

  Since retiring in 2013, Harriet Turner has not slowed down. She spends her time volunteering at the Ballas Boutique in Missouri Baptist Hospital; running Corner the Field, a garden she started at Temple Emanuel that donates its produce to...

Michele Steinberg’s roots run deep in the St. Louis Jewish community. The mother of two is a fifth-generation Temple Israel member, a longtime board member and a recipient of its Pillar of the Temple award.  Steinberg calls TI and St. Louis home....

For nearly seven decades, Marilyn K. Humiston has lived with a violin tucked under her chin and music woven through her spirit. What makes her Unsung Hero story remarkable is not just her extraordinary talent or longevity as a performer, but an unwavering...

When an Afghan refugee amily arrived in St. Louis, they didn’t know anyone, didn’t speak the language, and had no idea how to enroll their children in school or apply for government assistance. What they had — thanks to a group from Congregation...

Ken Weintraub is a familiar name within St. Louis’ Jewish community, having spent decades in leadership roles at the Jewish Community Center and Jewish Federation of St. Louis. But he said his most meaningful work has come in the past nine years as...

Sharon Weissman still carries the poignant memory of helping a woman pass away a decade later.  She recalls it vividly. The woman’s daughters were by their mother’s bedside, continuously fluffing her pillow and trying to make her comfortable.  Everyone...

Linda Sandmel began volunteering at age 13 as a candy striper. For nearly 70 years since then, her passion for helping others has not wavered. Through raising three children, surviving non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and all of the other various trials and...

Barb Kramer’s oven has seen a lot of lasagna. She’s baked about 250 trays over the past few years in her volunteer role as a lasagna chef for Lasagna Love, a homemade-meal delivery organization. That’s where Barb’s husband, Rich, enters the picture....

Rachel Sanger never sought the spotlight, but her tireless dedication to the Midwest Children’s Burn Camp (MCBC) and its young burn survivors has made her a true “Unsung Hero.”  Nominated by Sheri Sherman, who has witnessed Rachel’s deep...