Join the Jewish Light in recognizing this year’s ‘Unsung Heroes’ from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, May 23 at the Jewish Community Center Staenberg Family Complex Arts & Education Building – Performing Arts & Banquet Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive. Event features dessert and coffee reception (Kosher dietary laws observed). Registration is $18 . For more information, contact Ann Kusher at 314-743-3660 or [email protected].

Phyllis Cantor

As chair of the Social Action Committee at Congregation B’nai Amoona, Phyllis Cantor has collected toys at Christmas for needy children, painted walls and planted flowers for a settlement house in north St. Louis, baked cookies for firefighters and police, held shoe drives and taken in clothing for people in Kinloch.

Fran Cohen

In 1995, Fran Cohen co-founded The DisAbility Project, a collaboration of individuals that develops performance materials around the culture of disability. The group allows people with disabilities to express themselves on stage through a combination of both art and education.

Jack Cohen

Jack Cohen is being honored as a founder, officer, board member, teacher, innovator and ongoing source of inspiration at B’nai Torah in St. Charles County. He and his wife, Laura, are among the Reform synagogue’s seven founding families.

Jewish Prison Outreach

In 2005, Margie Kessler, Marsha Koski, Steve Sorkin, Lou Albert and Rabbi James Stone Goodman, along with support from Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose, founded Jewish Prison Outreach. The group addresses issues of isolation and alienation among incarcerated Jews.

Fritzi Lainoff

A “human dynamo,” Fritzi Lainoff volunteers to make sure government legislation takes care of the mounting needs of older adults and the uninsured. In addition, her advocacy has included a lifetime of work for the civil rights movement, people with AIDS, anti-nuclear power testing and the underserved.