During Hunger Awareness Month, a volunteer at Sister Visitor Center offers a close-up view of Louisville’s growing need for food and the importance of helping each person with dignity.

When Bernard first came to Sister Visitor Center about five months ago, he was looking for a way to help.

He arrived through an Urban League program and began working in the food pantry. The Urban Seniors Jobs Program offers service-based training for low-income people 55 years and older seeking employment.

Today, he helps keep the pantry moving, watching the flow of volunteers and making sure guests can get through efficiently.

Over time, Bernard said, the work has become more than a training opportunity. For Bernard, helping others has grown into something deeper.

“I think more and more every day, as I’m here, it feels more and more like a duty,” he said. “Because people need help.”

Sister Visitor Center, a program of Catholic Charities of Louisville, operates a choice food pantry serving people in West Louisville and beyond. Rather than receiving a pre-packed box, guests are able to select foods that work for their households.

That difference stood out to Bernard immediately.

“This is the first pantry that I’ve ever seen set up like this, and I think it’s awesome,” he said. “People get to come through and pick what they want instead of just what you give them.”

He knows a one-size-fits-all approach does not always work.

“A lot of times, pantries give people the same thing,” Bernard said. “That doesn’t work with everybody’s diet.”

Fresh produce is especially important, he said, because many of the people coming through the pantry are underfed or do not always have access to nutritious food.

The need is significant. Sister Visitor Center distributed 980,828 pounds of food during the 2024-25 fiscal year, a 94 percent increase from the previous year.

“People get to come through and pick what they want instead of just what you give them.”

— Bernard, Sister Visitor Center volunteer

But for Bernard, the work is about more than food.

Sometimes a person needs a conversation. Sometimes it is help carrying groceries. Sometimes it is simply the experience of being welcomed and treated with dignity.

“There are a lot of people who come through here who really appreciate this,” Bernard said. “They come in, and they’re like, ‘Thank you,’ and you can tell the sincerity.”

Those encounters have given him something in return.

“It gives me a sense of achievement,” he said. “It’s rewarding.”

Bernard does not expect the need he sees each day to disappear soon. But he has found a place where he can respond to it, one person at a time.

Hunger Awareness Month calls attention to a need that Bernard sees throughout the year. At Sister Visitor Center, responding to hunger means more than providing food. It means offering someone the freedom to choose what works for their family, taking time to listen and helping carry groceries home.

For Bernard, what began as an opportunity to help has become a commitment to serve.

“Glad to be a part of it,” he said.

The public is invited to help meet the growing need this month, Hunger Awareness Month, and throughout the year. Volunteer with Catholic Charities of Louisville and help ensure that every person who comes through our doors receives food with dignity. Visit cclou.org/get-involved.

Mary Shovlain is the Director of Marketing and Communications for Catholic Charities of Louisville.