Building on the overwhelming response to last year’s program and magazine, the St. Louis Jewish Light proudly presents its Second Annual Unsung Heroes event and edition of OY! Magazine.

The Light this year recognizes nine exceptional individuals and one organization for their tireless and substantial devotion to making our community a better place for all.

The honorees this year are:

• Dr. Rebecca Aft

• Charles Baron

• Maris Berg

• Phyllis Cantor

• Fran Cohen

• Jack Cohen

• Merle Hartstein

• Fritzi Lainoff

• David Oughton

• Jewish Prison Outreach

“We are thrilled that we can honor this incredible group,” says Unsung Heroes event co-chair Sheri Sherman, who is organizing the May 23 reception along with co-chairs Betsy Rubenstein and Susan Fadem.

“Their commitment to helping all those within our eclectic community is next to none,” Sherman said.

Registration for the May 23 event begins today with mail-in forms in this edition of the Light and with online forms available as well. Respondents will also be able to place tributes both in the event program and the OY! Magazine Heroes edition.

“As with last year’s event, we have a wide diversity of honorees,” says Light Publisher/CEO Larry Levin. “We have Jews and non-Jews alike who come to the aid of those in the Jewish community, and Jewish men and women who have put their mark on the overall St. Louis metropolitan landscape with their years of amazing service. We could not honor a more deserving group than this one.”

Stories about each of the honorees will be highlighted in the Spring Unsung Heroes edition of OY! Magazine, which will be distributed in a sneak preview to those who attend the event the evening of May 23.

The event, which attracted well over 300 members of the community last year, will be in the Performing Arts & Banquet Center of the Staenberg Family Complex of the Jewish Community Center on Millstone Campus Drive. The evening will feature a program recognizing the great works of each of the honorees, followed by a dessert reception. The cost of the evening is $18.

“We are honored to be able to recognize such extraordinary individuals within our community,” says Light President Gianna Jacobson. “Last year the event resonated so strongly in the community. We think not only was there a desire to celebrate such unselfish contributors, but with the Heroes coming from such varying backgrounds, attendees could meet those in all walks of life that maybe they couldn’t interact with otherwise. It was a very powerful cross-section of the community.”