*Dick Doyle is a member of  Council #6949 in Londonderry

So, it’s safe to assume that when the couple stood before the crowd at the 2025 Bishop’s Summer Reception to benefit the Bishop’s Charitable Assistance Fund (BCAF) last September and were lauded as the recipients of the prestigious Vita et Caritas (For Life and Love) Award, it was a bit surreal.

“We usually go undercover and do our thing,” Kay says. “Neither of us knew what to expect.”

“It was an honor,” Dick adds.

The blessings Dick and Kay Doyle of Londonderry stand at the entrance of the food pantry they’ve helped run and organize at St. Jude Parish in Londonderry for the past 40 years.

Given in memory of the late Ruthie Ford, the award celebrates volunteers who demonstrate exceptional service to a nonprofit organization that assists women, children and/or families. The Doyles were celebrated as the longtime coordinators of the St. Jude Food Pantry in Londonderry, where they have helped provide food, comfort and so much more to the community.

Feeding the hungry

It was some 40 years ago when Kay Doyle first sought a way to provide food staples to members of the community who could use a helping hand.

Luckily for her, the priests at St. Jude Parish in Londonderry agreed to let her organize a small pantry in the closet of the church basement. She recruited her husband and some others to pitch in — sorting food and stocking the shelves.

The Doyles would announce through the weekly bulletin when the pantry was running low on certain items, and the parishioners always came through.

As time went by, the pantry grew bigger as the Doyles asked for more and more space in the basement. They also used their own garage and storage space to hold extras.

An industrial-sized fridge and freezer were purchased with donations. More staples and products were added to the shelves. Through partnerships, the pantry now offers fresh vegetables and Stonyfield yogurt. Hannaford and Shaw’s supermarkets provide bread and pastries and host a donation bin at the front of the stores. The New Hampshire Food Bank, a program of Catholic Charities New Hampshire, provides meats and perishables.

“As it got bigger, more people in the community learned about the food pantry and were willing to donate,” Kay says. “People are very giving.”

Susan Pinder, a loyal volunteer with her friend, Doris Steinhardt, agrees. The two women collect the weekly donations of bread and pastries from Shaw’s supermarket, and pick up donated items in the store’s collection box.

Often, while they are there, shoppers will stop to ask what they need most and then go purchase it off the shelves. Members of the St. Jude Crafters stop in after their weekly meetings to drop off donations and check on inventory. Once a call for items is put in the weekly bulletin, bags of that provision arrive.

“The parish is very invested in this,” Pinder says. Many assume that food pantry clients are from large families, she added, when the reality is that 75 percent of their visitors are seniors, those with health issues, and younger folks working multiple jobs to try to make ends meet.

Through the weekly commitment, Steinhardt said, the volunteers learn the stories of their visitors and form relationships. “It changes you,” she says. “The other side of giving things away … the other side is the joy you know in helping someone else.”

Building a food pantry from a vision to a vital resource in the community is no small feat and is certainly a proud accomplishment. Still, the Doyles are quick to shrug off praise or compliments.“They want to be behind the scenes helping where they can,” says Rev. Bob Gorski, pastor of St. Jude Parish. “They do it everyday.”

Angels among us

Quietly and discreetly, the couple helps, he added. When someone stops them, or calls their house with a need of any kind — even seeking rent or fuel assistance — they are there to answer. (The church has a fund to help parishioners needing assistance with utilities.)

Each holiday season, the Doyles calmly and expertly lead a slew of volunteers in a massive month-long outreach program. The Blue Angels Christmas Basket program ensures that everyone in the community has access to a holiday meal and gifts.

For the month of November, the team gathers donations, sorts through them and prepares for Distribution Day, when all the recipients arrive to collect their baskets of groceries, holiday meal ingredients and presents. They are also given rolls of wrapping paper, gift tags and tape so parents can wrap their kids’ presents.

Food, gifts, gift cards and supplies fill the religious education classrooms, as well as the Doyles’ garage, for weeks beforehand.

Joining in the massive undertaking are all of the Doyles’ family members. Grandkids come home from college to help. The littlest members of the clan are given their own tasks, like carrying gift tags.

“They have an army. They are big believers in volunteers,” longtime volunteer Lisa Lawrence says. “[Dick] will never turn away a volunteer. They go out of their way to thank you and make you feel part of the group.”

“Kay and her daughter make magic,” Lawrence adds.

The Doyles coordinate with the town and other partners — including the school district and other churches — as well as countless volunteers to organize the Christmas Basket program.

As recipients arrive to collect their baskets, Christmas music plays and smiles abound. Everyone present is filled with the spirit of the season, Lawrence said.

Through the labor of love, hundreds of families have been given food and gifts at Christmas. “It really is an amazing time to watch and they do it so humbly,” Father Gorski says.

For Lawrence, who also helps out at the food pantry and oversees the ordering system with the NH Food Bank, being in the presence of the Doyles and part of their work is gratifying.

“They care about everybody,” she says. “Their faith is a big part of that, they take it seriously. It’s what they do — they help.”

The pantry’s outreach also includes assisting with the summer food programs for families who depend on free/reduced lunches for nutrition and sharing information with Londonderry families about back-to-school programs and other services.

Recognized for their efforts

The Doyles were joined at the Summer Reception by their children and their spouses — it was only fitting since their children have been involved in the pantry since they were young.

“The kids learned to sort food by looking at the [expiration] dates,” Kay recalls.

Nowadays, they help with food pickup and still pitch in to stock shelves. While the Doyles were hailed as the much-deserving recipients, the couple is quick to share the credit and accolades.

“We depend on our great volunteers,” Dick says. “We couldn’t do it without them.”

What has led the couple to continue to volunteer and run the pantry for four decades?

“The good Lord has blessed us, and we want to bless other people,” Kay says.

CATHOLICNH.ORG | JANUARY/FEBRUARY26 | PARABLE | 19