When an email from the Karsh Center seeking volunteers landed in Jen Bernstein’s inbox, she immediately knew that this was the type of volunteer opportunity she’d been looking for. It was still deep in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and she was eager to find a way to meaningfully give back to the community.  

A native Angeleno, Jen has deep roots within the Wilshire Boulevard Temple community. Her husband David became a bar mitzvah there, and her father-in-law is a past president at the Temple. For Jen, volunteering is simply a way of life—a natural extension of her upbringing and the values Tikkun Olam instilled in her from a young age. Tikkun Olam is a Hebrew phrase that translates to “repairing the world” or “healing the world.” It’s a concept in Judaism that emphasizes the responsibility of individuals to work towards making the world a better place through acts of kindness, social justice, and charity. Jen says, “growing up in Hebrew school you just knew you gave back, that’s how I was raised. I love helping people. It’s so simple to sign up and do.”

Since Jen joined our volunteer corps in 2021, she’s had a hand in almost all of our volunteer positions and she’s logged over three hundred hours volunteering at the Karsh Center!  Jen is a regular at the Tuesday food pantry distribution where she distributes hundreds of bags filled with fresh produce, dry goods, and refrigerated items to people facing food insecurity. She’s participated in produce sorting, where ahead of our weekly pantry volunteers sort through fresh fruits and vegetables and put together smaller bags of produce to distribute.  

In a time marked by economic uncertainty and rising food prices, Jen recognizes how vital the twice weekly Karsh food pantry is: “On Tuesday, we gave 400 bags out. That’s a lot of people. And they need it. We’re giving out fresh, good vegetables.” From 2022 to 2023 a total of 152,764 meals were provided between our Sunday and Tuesday pantries,  Karsh Mobile (our mobile food pantry), and our annual Big Give event, which provides Thanksgiving meals for the community. 

For the past year, Jen’s also been a Karsh Mobile delivery volunteer. Karsh Mobile provides food and diaper delivery to homebound individuals who are not able to come to the Karsh Center due to their age, disability, handicap or having an infant in their home.  Jen shared how grateful clients feel for this program: “seeing that person outside their home, handing them their groceries, they’re really appreciative. Women with brand new babies, holding their newborn, it really helps them.” In addition to her work with both our on-site food and mobile food pantries, Jen also does data entry at the Karsh Center every week. Data entry helps us better to understand the needs of our community, our impact, and plan for future programming. 

When asked what makes her look forward to her weekly volunteer shifts, Jen shared her appreciation for the Karsh staff: “All the staff are so sweet. Derek and Lizzie are so great, the people are so nice, and you want to go help, I get excited, like oh I get to go see my friends, you know?” 

Derek Hartnett, the Volunteer Engagement Manager at the Karsh Center, is inspired by the impact Jen has made. He shared, “From my perspective, Jen’s approach to volunteering and commitment to helping others culminates in the quote: ‘Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.’ As one of our most consistent volunteers, Jen’s congeniality and proactive attitude embody the mission of the Karsh Center” 

The Karsh Center is lucky to have a volunteer like Jen!  If you are interested in joining Jen and becoming a volunteer, visit our volunteering page or email volunteer@karshcenter.org to get started!