As co-founder and director of Pittsburgh's Thomas Merton Center from 1970-1973, he took an active role in the civil rights, anti-poverty, and anti-war movements.
Kessler continued his activism at Boston's Paulist Center from 1973-1979, where he expanded the Walk for Hunger into the year-round anti-hunger program, Project Bread.
Kessler retired in 2006, but returned to activism in 2013, when Victory Programs asked him to run the Boston Living Center, which serves HIV-positive individuals.
[4] AAC relies on funding each year from its annual AIDS Walk Boston and Larry Kessler 5K Run where participants engage in peer-to-peer fundraising in support of the agency.
The Larry Kessler 5K Run was created as a 5K race held concurrently with AIDS Walk Boston in 2001.