Photography By Diane Anderson

Many might say a dinner date with Jon Hamm is something they can’t live without. We’ve seen it happen a few times this year where his name gets put up on an auction board for a local charity and sure enough, dinner is served with the movie and TV star. Most recently, an evening with Hamm went for $80,000 at the Dine and Draft event for Care to Learn, an organization that provides basic human needs and essentials to students struggling to overcome poverty. Co-founder Donn Sorenson says, “One in five kids is at poverty level and the only way out is education and if you can’t have an education because of poverty it’s just horrible.”

Hamm was a student at John Burroughs School when he was growing up in St. Louis. He says, “We were very lucky at Burroughs because none of those things were a problem. We had all of those things in spades.” But what many might not have realized was it was because of others that Hamm had that experience. “I was a scholarship kid and I got to try all kinds of things… you don’t get there by yourself. It takes concerned and caring individuals.”

After college, Hamm returned to St. Louis to teach, and also had a few different jobs at restaurants. The road to leading roles let alone any roles was not an easy one, but now, Hamm has starring role film credits, an Emmy win and several nominations, and the possibility of playing Batman on the horizon. So for someone who has been down a bumpy road to the brighter side of life, we asked him for just a few things he couldn’t imagine living without. And it comes as no surprise that he would want to help Care to Learn in any way possibly:

Health.

Hygiene.

Dignity.

Access.

Community. “It’s nice when a community can come together and help. Nobody does any of this stuff by themselves. I was a perfect example of that at Burroughs.”

Hamm adds, “I went back recently to Burroughs. It’s funny you think when you’re a senior you think you run the world. And to go back now at 47 and look at the guys 30 years younger than me and I think gosh these are just kids.” Perhaps it’s that realization that brings Hamm back to St. Louis ever so often not just to see family and friends and of course the St. Louis Blues, but also to lend a hand for a great cause that is paving a future for the next generation to come.