An award-winning journalist recognized for her media leadership and for promoting diversity, Trish Muyco-Tobin has more than 20 years of experience in print and broadcasting. She is also a dedicated community volunteer.
St. Louis, show your love to the community by participating in Give STL Day!
From now until Thursday, May 6, you may donate $10 or more to a nonprofit (or two) of your choice by simply logging on to GiveSTLDay.org. Online giving is available 24/7.
Most nonprofits serving the St. Louis region continue to struggle following a year of pandemic-related restrictions that limited their ability to host trivia nights, performances, galas and other fundraising events.
Each donation, no matter the size, adds up and truly directly benefits local organizations in need. For instance:
- $10 will provide two bales of hay for the cows, calves, piglets, pigs, sheep, lambs, goats and kids at The Gentle Barn last resort farm sanctuary, which serves animals that have experienced extreme abuse and neglect.
- $20 will pay an at-risk young person to cut the grass of a senior homeowner, thanks to the Riverview West Florissant Development Corporation.
- $50 will provide one month of mental health services for a young person at the Creative Reaction Lab, which helps educate, train and challenge Black and Latinx youth to become leaders.
- $100 will enable a piano to be tuned by Pianos for People, which offers free access to the piano for families and individuals with limited resources.
Since its launch in 2014, Give STL Day has raised more than $17.5 million for the area’s nonprofits. Last year, the event raised a record $4.5 million.
Celebrate the extraordinary contributions of six women who have worked to elevate and support the arts in St. Louis.
The Saint Louis Visionary Awards will premiere virtually on Monday, April 26, at 6 p.m. to recognize the 2020-2021 honorees: Pacia Elaine Anderson (Community Impact Artist), Ellie Balk (Emerging Artist), Kathryn Bentley (Outstanding Working Artist), Haniny Hillberg (Lifetime Achievement), Linda Lee (Major Contributor to the Arts) and Lisa Melandri (Outstanding Arts Professional).
A former Visionary Award recipient, artist Denise Thimes, is slated to perform during the ceremony, which will be co-hosted by Tania Beasley-Jolly and Penny Pennington.
This year’s ceremony is free to attend and can be accessed on vizawards.org.
This year is a milestone year for St. Louis catering company LaChef.
The company is marking its 40th anniversary, one year after the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the catering industry across the country.
Not only has LaChef managed to weather the storm, it has done so while serving the community. Owner and president Jennifer Prost Gierhart and her team have distributed mass drop-off meals for hundreds of frontline workers over the past year, as well to families of healthcare workers who have been self-isolating due to potential exposure to the virus from work. Gierhart considers the mission a personal one – her cousins are nurses and are married to first responders.
Gierhart, who started cooking when she was 5, started her own company, Hart Catering, in 2016. She bought LaChef when its longtime owner retired and merged the two companies. The company’s executive chef, Mary Peura, has been with LaChef for almost two decades.
Hats off to World Wide Technology’s David Steward, who was recently presented with a national award from the Boy Scouts of America.
Steward is the recipient of the National Duty to God Award for his “exemplary, transformational leadership, faithful service and selfless dedication to the advancement and support of Scouting founding moral principles and shared ideals.”
Steward, who previously served as president of the Scouts’ St. Louis Council Board, has been hailed for expanding scouting for urban communities. Under his tenure, the number of scouts from urban areas increased by double digits and a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program he led saw St. Louis-area scouts win more awards than any other council in the country.
Steward’s wife, Thelma, presented the award during a virtual ceremony late last month that also included remarks from Greater St. Louis Area Council Scout executive emeritus Ronald Green, as well as a musical tribute by Grammy Award winning singer BeBe Winans. Bishop T.D. Jakes gave the invocation.
