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...

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...

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...

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....

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 &...

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...

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

As Julie Williams speaks about her volunteer work, the message emblazoned on the wall behind her at the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center says as much as she can about why she does what she does. “Change begins with me,” it reads. “This is...