Caleb Carson | Congregation Shaare Emeth

The Tzedek Committee of Congregation Shaare Emeth is dedicated to making the St. Louis community a better place for all. Just as we all want shelter, food and education for ourselves, the Tzedek Committee works hard to provide those necessities to others in our community.

Room at the Inn, a temporary, emergency shelter, is just one of the projects at Shaare Emeth. Once a month, the congregation hosts homeless women and families for the night. Volunteers from the temple provide a complete dinner and dessert, as well as breakfast items for the next morning. Since Caleb, son of Lisa and Larry Carson of Chesterfield, loves to bake, he chose to make two treats each month for several months and personally served them to the guests. He felt this was his way to help the community. He also had the opportunity to interact with the guests during dinner and play with the younger children.

Another Shaare Emeth tzedek project is providing and serving dinner to the 50 to 70 homeless men at Saints Peter and Paul Church near Soulard. Caleb and his family typically do a taco bar each time they go. Again, Caleb wanted to help the community by serving his tasty desserts.

Everyone at both venues was very appreciative of Caleb’s desserts. His big hits were chocolate chip cookie bars, strawberry, blueberry and key lime cheesecake bars, pecan pie bars and an assortment of brownies. 

Caleb, a student at Crestview Middle School, said he loved doing these projects because he combined his love of baking with helping the community. It gave him the opportunity to be creative in what he baked each month.