A note to readers from the Light’s Editor-in-Chief Ellen Futterman and Chief Business and Engagement Officer Betsy Schmidt:

The St. Louis Jewish Light strives to inform, inspire, educate and connect our community– and while all of these tenets help guide and inform the work we do, we’d like to focus on the “connect” part of our mission today.

Since mid-March of 2020, when life as we knew it shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Light has worked diligently to keep friends, family and neighbors connected during this isolating time. We quickly realized the newspaper alone wasn’t enough to maintain a deep connection, so we ramped up our digital operations to truly become a 24/7 — save Shabbat — media hub serving the St. Louis Jewish community. 

Today, we’d like to tell you about another exciting change, aimed at fully embracing our not-for-profit status. We have launched a brand-new website: stljewishlight.org. Yes, that’s right, we are now a “dot org,” and we’re hoping that you will help support this new direction with a tax-deductible donation, or even regular monthly donations. 

We are not making this request gratuitously. Donations are a crucial part of our funding; even more so now given the pandemic’s catastrophic effect on advertising revenue, which was on a downward trajectory before COVID and isn’t expected to rebound when life eventually gets back to “normal.” 

Since our newspaper and digital access are completely free of charge, your donations are especially important to help sustain the Light as the only independent Jewish media outlet in St. Louis, where our focus is on covering the people, places and organizations that make our Jewish community vibrant and unique. We want to ensure that our connection with the community continues well into the future, so that new generations of readers can enjoy lively, informative content that helps them better navigate Jewish life in St. Louis and beyond.

We’ve made donating easy by including an envelope in today’s paper, or you can go to our website and donate with a credit card. Donors are recognized in regular thank-you ads that appear throughout the year both online and in the newspaper.

In addition, we invite you to sign up for one – or all – of our free newsletters, which are delivered directly to your email inbox and will help keep you better connected with the St. Louis Jewish community. Our newsletters are:

• “Your Morning Light” – A curated, digital version of the day’s top stories, delivered every morning Monday through Friday.

• Obituaries – Arriving two to three times a week, with the latest obit announcements and funeral information.

• Simchas/Celebrations – Arriving twice a month to spread the joy of births, b’nai mitzvahs, weddings, engagements, anniversaries and other celebratory events in the local Jewish community. Please note that there is no charge to submit these items and you can do so on our website.

• Israel newsletter – Delivered every Monday, with up-to-date news and features from Israel.

• Family newsletter – Arriving every other Wednesday, it’s filled with “news-parents-can-use” content, including family-friendly events, relatable parenting stories, book reviews, recipes, video advice from youngsters as well as a harried parent, and much more. 

• Friday’s “Shabbat Shalom” newsletter – A recap of the week’s top stories.

We appreciate every one of you who have donated in the past and hope you will continue to support us now and in the future. Thank you so much for your consideration.

SUPPORT THE LIGHT: Readers will find a donation envelope inserted in this week’s Jewish Light  — or visit us at stljewishlight.org/donate