Matthew Hearst, Congregation B’nai Amoona 

Last summer, Matthew and his mother spent two days a week, two hours each day, at the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry. Son of Claudia Hearst and Jorge Toro of Olivette and Jonathan Hearst, Matthew chose this organization because he wanted to help families in need. He wanted to better understand that some families in St. Louis are not as privileged as his and do not have their basic needs covered.

Matthew’s responsibilities varied by day. Depending on the directions given, some days he would wash bins used to display the food in addition to sorting and stocking shelves with canned goods. Other times, he would sort through produce, bread and pastries and keep only those that were suitable for eating.  

Regardless of the job, Matthew, a student at Ladue Middle School, felt it was great having the opportunity to work with his mother and experience together the hard work and satisfaction of helping others as a volunteer. 

“This was an opportunity for me to learn to take directions from someone else outside of school or home,” he said. “I felt motivated by the cause and was glad to see the impact the food pantry, with a little bit of my help, can have over the lives of so many people in need.”