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A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

Unsung Heroes

Steve Rosenblum is shown with signs from The Kaufman Fund golf tournament, which he helps arrange. Rosenblum is a board member of The Kaufman Fund, an organization that works to assist veterans. Photo: Bill Motchan

Former Ferguson restaurateur ‘pays it forward’ as a volunteer

BILL MOTCHANPublished November 20, 2020

Steve Rosenblum can trace his commitment to volunteering and giving back to the community to his father, who was fond of saying: “If something good happens to you, send 10 bucks to the rabbi.” “What he meant was, be appreciative, be grateful...

National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis helped provide school essentials; clothes and other items to 2,000 St. Louis-area children during the organization's annual Back to School! Store on July 19, 2020. College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving provided a distribution hub where volunteers picked up boxes of filled backpacks to deliver to partner agencies in the St. Louis area, which distributed the bags to clients and members.

Volunteers! power school shopping experience for underserved children

ELLEN FUTTERMAN, Editor-in-ChiefPublished November 20, 2020

Ask any co-chair or the president of the organization or its executive director and they all will say that what has made the Back to School! Store work seamlessly over the past two decades comes down to one word: volunteers. “Volunteers are what...

Mark Dana is an avid cyclist who frequently takes part in fundraising cycling events such as Pedal the Cause. Photo: Bill Motchan

Organ donor, volunteer is a ‘mensch of all mensches’

ERIC BERGER, Associate EditorPublished November 20, 2020

Twenty-eight years ago, Mark Dana’s first wife suggested that they join Congregation B’nai Amoona. The couple had previously attended High Holiday services and lit a menorah during Hanukkah, and that was about the extent of their Judaism. Dana...

Aleeza Granote (at left) and a participant at a card-making event for Card Care Connection at Family Partners Adult Day Services.Granote, a pediatric oncology social worker at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center, founded Card Care Connection, a nonprofit organization that provides supportive cards and hopeful messages to people with cancer across the country.

Social worker ‘lifts people up’ during toughest times

BILL MOTCHANPublished November 20, 2020

When she was 12 years old, Aleeza Granote was watching TV and saw a public service announcement for a volunteer opportunity at a nursing home’s Alzheimer’s unit. She called and offered to help. “My friends thought I was crazy,” Granote...

Volunteers came together at a gift packing event for Shomrei Amoonim with a group of B’nai Amoona members.

‘Keeper of the Faith’ helps homebound B’nai Amoona congregants connect with the world

BILL MOTCHANPublished November 20, 2020

Sheryl Kalman is a fixer. For her, every challenge is an opportunity to improve people’s lives, especially people who find themselves confined at home. It could be a person with mobility challenges who needs to have a wheelchair ramp installed....

2019 Unsung Heroes

2019 Unsung Heroes event

Published June 6, 2019

The Jewish Light honored the 2019 Unsung Heroes and celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Unsung Heroes awards during an event May 22 at the 560 Music Building in University City. The 2019 Heroes were: Reva Davis, Barbara Finch, Karen Flotte, Jeff &...

Karen Flotte at Central Reform Congregation’s mitzvah garden. Photo: Bill Motchan

Karen Flotte: Urban farmer ‘digs deep’ to nourish body and soul

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 30, 2019

Standing in a field of sprouting collard and mustard greens, Karen Flotte surveys the 32-foot square of tilled land and the raised beds containing everything from turnips and beets to lettuce and potatoes — all of it standing in the shadow of Central...

Students at Monroe Elementary School in St. Louis city help Dr. Terry Weiss unload his weekly delivery of food from Operation Food Search. Photo: Bill Motchan

Dr. Terry Weiss: Devoting retirement to helping those who need it

BY ERIC BERGER, ASSOCIATE EDITORPublished May 30, 2019

About a month after the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Dr. Terry Weiss attended Rosh Hashanah services at Congregation Temple Israel and heard a rabbi there speak about the urgency of taking action amid chaos to spur positive...

Volunteer Alice Ludmer dances with participants at the J’s Adult Day Center during a Cinco de Mayo celebration. Photo: Bill Motchan

Alice Ludmer: Longtime volunteer is go-to asset at J’s Adult Day Center

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished May 30, 2019

When in doubt, go ask Alice.“That’s our motto around here,” says Ashley Stockman, director of the Adult Day Center at the Jewish Community Center. “Alice always has the correct response and, if not, she will do the research and not stop until...

Jennifer Rothman Mancuso holds a photograph of her son, Vincent Joseph “VJ” Mancuso, who passed away in 2010 shortly before his fourth birthday. Mancuso started a foundation in VJ’s memory, which supports four local nonprofit organizations. Photo: Bill Motchan

Jennifer Rothman Mancuso: Mom’s grief drives work to help others’ children

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished May 30, 2019

To lose a child is an agony no parent should have to endure. How do you get out of bed the next morning, and the morning after that, and the morning after that?For grieving mother Jennifer Rothman Mancuso, the motivation to keep going after her young...

Dr. Gary Ratkin, a retired oncologist, meets with a patient at Casa de Salud, a low-cost health clinic in St. Louis city. PHOTO: ODELL MITCHELL JR./COURTESY CASA DE SALUD

Dr. Gary Ratkin: Retired oncologist brings quality care to low-cost health clinic

By Eric Berger, Associate EditorPublished May 30, 2019

Dr. Gary Ratkin is aware that for patients with little money, trips to the emergency room can be debilitating even if doctors are able to diagnose and treat the ailment. So when Ratkin, a retired oncologist, recently saw a patient at Casa de Salud, a...

Sheila Shucart, Brayden Miederhoff, Heather Miederhoff, Bonnie Rosen and Madison Miederhoff recite the blessing after lighting Shabbat candles during a service at Delmar Gardens West in April. Photo: Bill Motchan

Volunteers bring ‘mitzvah’ of Shabbat to nursing home

By Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 30, 2019

Friday afternoon is Bonnie Barber’s favorite time of the week. Barber, 74, has been a resident at Delmar Gardens West skilled nursing and rehab center in Town and Country for three years. Her mobility is limited, but she doesn’t let that stop her...

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