In late December, a St. Louis homeless man died at age 56 inside a downtown port-a-potty, where he apparently had been living for several weeks. Another St. Louis homeless man, 54, was found dead Jan. 1 inside a trash bin behind an apartment in north St. Louis. Authorities say both men likely froze to death.

No more people should die because they don’t have proper shelter to keep them warm, surmised Jack Seigel, 23, a political consultant who now lives in his hometown of St. Louis after graduating from Emory University in Atlanta.

“Judaism teaches that saving one life is as if you have saved the entire world and that is how I am approaching this community outreach drive,” said Seigel, who graduated from Parkway West High School, where he started a Jewish Student Union chapter. “I plan to continue until winter is over and then will shift my focus to a more long-term and proactive effort.”

The outreach effort Seigel is referring to is one he helped start in the St. Louis Jewish community. He said a couple of weeks ago, a friend posted on social media about getting faith communities involved in a volunteer effort to feed, house and clothe people experiencing homelessness locally. 

Many of these volunteers, Seigel explained, are the same people involved in the “Expect Us” protests that followed the September acquittal of St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man, after a high-speed chase.

Seigel, who grew up attending Traditional Congregation, shared the post and tagged his St. Louis Jewish network. Not long after, Rabbi Carnie Rose of Congregation B’nai Amoona responded, even though the rabbi was vacationing in Aruba.

“He connected me to his office and the social justice chair and I picked up boxes of blankets and delivered them to one of the pop-up emergency shelters that night,” said Seigel.

The next day, he started contacting local synagogues. Within 12 hours, he had six congregations opened as drop-off locations. As of last Friday, he had 10. 

“The support from the St. Louis Jewish community has been overwhelming,” said Seigel. “I’ve collected thousands of dollars of clothing and materials. I had someone open up their factory warehouse and let me go in and take blankets, coats, clothes and towels. I’ve had people allow me to come to their homes and pick up blankets and warm clothes.

“I really haven’t spoken to anyone who wasn’t extremely interested in helping. It’s more about making sure people know how to help and that they can.”

Seigel is currently picking up donations, coordinating volunteers, spending evenings delivering the donations and volunteering at the emergency shelters, most of which are located at area churches. He and others have been critical of what they say is a lack of effort by St. Louis city and county officials to take responsibility for providing adequate housing and food for the homeless, especially when temperatures dip below freezing outside.

“I’ve witnessed a beautiful community at the shelters and am impressed by what a small group of caring activists can do in the face of failure by our local government,” said Seigel. “We ought to be judged by how we treat the least well-off and in that regard our society is consistently failing.”

This winter is the first without the New Life Evangelistic Center, the downtown shelter that was run by the Rev. Larry Rice. It closed in April after being cited for operating without a permit and various building code violations.

The city owns Biddle House, a homeless shelter just north of downtown, but it isn’t large enough to handle the overwhelming need. When temperatures drop below 25 degrees, the city calls on local churches to serve as emergency shelters. Volunteers, such as Seigel, often shuttle those living on the streets to the shelters, then help ensure that they have food and warm clothing.

“You see a lot of mental illness and people who are surviving by themselves and not being helped in the ways they need to be helped,” said Seigel, talking about the area’s homeless. “It’s heartbreaking but apparent.”

Seigel sent me a list of what is needed most at these shelters. Supplies include socks, boots, underwear and warm clothing – in sizes large, extra large and extra extra large, especially – as well as blankets, towels, pillows, food, money and bus passes. These supplies can be dropped off at the following locations: Congregation Temple Israel, Traditional Congregation, B’nai Amoona, United Hebrew, Central Reform Congregation, Congregation Shaare Emeth, both J locations, Temple Emanuel, Chabad on Campus (7018 Forsyth Blvd.) and Kol Rinah.

In addition, volunteers are needed at the various shelters and to help pick up people living on the streets. For more information, contact Seigel at [email protected].

Celebrating the media 

The 2018 Media Persons of the Year Gala will take place Wednesday, Feb. 21, at Edward Jones Corp. North Campus in Maryland Heights. Among those being honored is Eric Mink, longtime television columnist and editorial writer at the Post-Dispatch and a current regular contributor to the Jewish Light. Co-chairs of the event are William Greenblatt and Tom Eschen.

Other honorees include veteran KSDK (Channel 5) sportscaster and radio personality Frank Cusumano; former reporter and anchor at KMOV (Channel 4) and KTVI (Channel 2) Betsey Bruce; the late newspaper and television reporter John Auble, and KSHE 95 radio.

John Lehrer of PBS, who co-anchored the “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” and “PBS NewHour,” is slated to speak at the event when he receives the club’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Lehrer graduated from the University of Missouri in 1956.

The reception begins at 5:30 p.m., with hors d’ouevres, dinner and program to follow. Tickets are $125 and $150. For reservations or more information, call 314-449-8029 or go to stlpressclub.org.

Heartfelt sympathy

Those of us at the Jewish Light want to extend our deepest condolences to Rabbis Susan Talve and James Stone Goodman, who lost their beloved daughter Adina Chaya Talve-Goodman last Friday (Jan. 12). May her memory always be a blessing and her beautiful smile forever etched in the hearts and minds of those who loved her.