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A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

Harvey Ferdman has spent almost four years warning of the dangers lurking in the Bridgeton and West Lake landfills and pushing for permanent solutions.  Behind him is part of the Bridgeton Landfill South Quarry off Old St. Charles Road. Photo: Barry Gilbert

Harvey Ferdman: Fighting for public safety in north county

BY BARRY GILBERT, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished May 21, 2016

Harvey Ferdman of Chesterfield is surprisingly calm for a man dealing with officialdom’s glacial response to what everyone agrees is a serious, perhaps imminent threat: a fire under a landfill that is adjacent to a radioactive waste site. He sighs;...

Ann Frank (right) and Charlene Schweitzer collect items to pack at Project Backpack in late April. Photo: Andrew Kerman

People-person Ann Frank is a volunteer whirlwind

BY ERIC BERGER, STAFF WRITERPublished May 21, 2016

Ann Frank, a volunteer at Project Backpack, will ask others on her trips to collect toiletries from their hotel rooms so she can donate them to the organization’s clients. “She brings in bag and bags of toiletries,” said Judy Pearlstone, executive...

2016 Unsung Hero Shirley Mosinger. Photo: Yana Hotter

Shirley Mosinger has devoted her life to literacy

BY MARGARET GILLERMAN, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished May 21, 2016

Shirley Mosinger’s bookshelves are filled with impressive volumes, from Irving Howe’s “World of Our Fathers” to a book of Chinese poetry her father gave to her when she was a child.Books and learning were cherished in her Jewish household when...

2016 Unsung Hero Joy Millner. Photo: Kristi Foster

Food, fitness and nutrition, delivered with Joy

BY ELLEN FUTTERMAN, EDITORPublished May 21, 2016

Her motto is “To Live Life Joyfully.” Recently, her students surprised her by showing up at one of her fitness classes wearing T-shirts that read, “We Are Living Joyfully.”The “Joy” in “Joyfully” also is the first name of Joy Millner,...

2016 Unsung Hero Susan K. Goldberg. Photo: Kristi Foster 

Susan K. Goldberg wears a big V for volunteer

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished May 21, 2016

If Marvel created a superhero for volunteering, she’d probably look like Susan K. Goldberg. A self-described professional volunteer, Goldberg learned at a young age from her parents, Nancy and the late Jerome “Jerry” Kalishman, the importance of...

2016 Unsung Hero Philip Deitch. Photo: Kristi Foster

Philip Deitch: Waging a lifelong fight against injustice

BY MARGARET GILLERMAN, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished May 21, 2016

When Philip Deitch was in junior high school, his father came home from work one night after meeting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He asked Philip and his sister what they would do to fight racial injustice.So, in the eighth grade, Philip Deitch founded...

2016 Unsung Hero Bonnie Solomon. Photo: Yana Hotter

Bonnie Solomon has devoted decades to the elderly

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 21, 2016

In 1972, when the then-president of the Covenant House board told Bonnie Solomon that she ought to join the staff of the housing facility, she was a bit skeptical. But he convinced her by saying it was only a temporary job, perhaps four or five months.“I...

2016 Unsung Hero Carl Sherman. Photo: Yana Hotter

Carl Sherman: Gift for listening helps veterans share their stories

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 21, 2016

Sometimes being an Unsung Hero simply means listening to other heroes. That’s a lesson that defines Carl Sherman of Creve Coeur.For the past three years, Sherman has volunteered with the Missouri Veterans History Project, helping to record oral histories....

2016 Unsung Heroes Pamela & Stuart Katz.

Couple give back to servicemen through the USO

BY DAVID BAUGHER, SPECIAL TO THE LIGHTPublished May 21, 2016

During his time as a reservist, Stuart Katz didn’t see any combat.Well, almost.“I did fight a battle on H Street at a place called the Iron Butterfly where a bunch of the guys had a weekend pass,” he recalled with a laugh, remembering a Washington...

2016 Unsung hero Betsy Mehlman. Photo: Kristi Foster

Betsy Mehlman: Star volunteer behind the scenes

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 21, 2016

As we all remember from grade school, good penmanship is always a virtue. For Betsy Mehlman, it is a quality that also leads to good volunteerism.“With the tribute cards, I saw the writing and I just loved the printing so I just got into it,” said...

2016 Unsung Hero Elad Gross. Photo: Yana Hotter

Elad Gross helps give kids equal educational opportunities

BY ERIC BERGER, STAFF WRITERPublished May 21, 2016

When the Ferguson-Florissant School District delayed the start of a new academic year after the fatal shooting of  Michael Brown in 2014, Elad Gross and other volunteers improvised, turning the local library into a school. Gross, who had been doing...

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