Shaving Israel is a unique all-volunteer organization dedicated to assisting members of the greatest fighting force in the Middle East. It is the only group in the United States whose mission is to educate U.S. citizens about the needs of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and funds the purchase of toiletries, personal items and food vouchers from Israeli suppliers for members of the IDF who are in need or deprived of family support systems. A fundraiser for Shaving Israel will be held on Sunday Oct. 14 from 3-5 p.m. at Southwest Bank in Creve Coeur, 10911 Olive Blvd. The gourmet Israeli cuisine will be provided by Sarajoan Rezak and entertainment by the Shir Ami Singers and Tommy Goldenberg. All this can be yours for only $25 per person by calling 314-579-9653.

Shaving Israel was founded by Rachel Miller, a Holocaust survivor, after she returned from a trip to Israel where she visited with a friend at an Israeli Defense Force army base. Discovering there that each soldier had a very limited allocation of toilet paper, Rachel remembered her own experience of having to use newspapers as toilet paper during World War II. On her return to St. Louis she invited different friends to join her on the board of her newly organized Shaving Israel to help provide basic necessities. “Every single dollar raised goes directly to the soldiers. There are no overhead costs so all the money pays for toiletries, vouchers for transportation home for Shabbat and other personal needs for service men in dire need,” Miller explained. She also asked me to let you know that if you are unable to attend the fundraiser on Oct. 14 all contributions are more than welcome. Just call 314-579-9653.

“SUNNY GLASSBERG is the most caring, unassuming, generous, kind and generally wonderful woman I have ever met,” Peggy Ross told me when we chatted about Sunny’s most recent gift to the St. Louis Scholarship Foundation, four Designated Scholar Loan Funds which will benefit, in perpetuity, students who are graduates of St. Louis Public Schools. “This is not her first gift to the Scholarship Foundation but the first to bear her name. Because she is such a modest person, all the others have either been in memory of her husband or in honor of her children. And, Lois, you should see her with the students. She is their mentor and friend and establishes a real relationship with them,” enthused Peggy, an 11- year board member of the Scholarship Foundation.

Since 1920 the Scholarship Foundation (founded then by the National Council of Jewish Women but an independent entity since 1960) has been making interest-free loans and grants to St. Louis area students. This year some 600 students attending two-year, four-year, graduate, professional and technical programs locally and across the United States are receiving $2.9 million in loans and grants. All awards are made on the basis of financial need, satisfactory academic progress and character. Scholarship Foundation funds are raised through the proceeds of their two ScholarShops, upscale resale stores located in Clayton and Webster Groves, loan repayments and private contributions such as the Designated Scholar Loan Funds. Of the Sunny Glassberg Designated Scholar Loan Funds, Sunny told me, “You know that education, especially for youngsters living in the City of St. Louis, is my passion. I am grateful that I am able to help them achieve their educational goals.” To learn more about Scholarship Foundation and how you can help needy students, call Faith Sandler at 314-725-7990.

Hadassah’s Dream Kitchen Tour on Sunday, Oct. 7, features six very special Clayton, Ladue and Frontenac kitchens, either brand new or remodeled. One 18,000- square foot home has two kitchens on different floors — a kitchen living space on the main floor and the bonus kitchen on a second floor that is a huge party room with stage, enormous flat screen TV, large bar and a dance floor. All proceeds benefit medical research, education and the good works of Hadassah. Tickets at $25 may be pre-purchased by calling 314-991-0434.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MICHAEL ISRAELIEVITCH, St. Louis native and Whitfield School graduate, who won the prestigious New World Symphony audition and will be moving to Miami where he will be principal tympani under conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. He is the son of Gail Bass and Alan Pearlman, now residents of Santa Fe, New Mexico and Jacques Israelievitch, former Concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra who now occupies that position with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Michael recently completed a master’s degree at Boston University. He has performed extensively in North America and abroad. I expect to some day see Michael’s name in the University City Loop’s St. Louis Walk of Fame.