Diner volunteers in Pittsburg nourish more than bodies
Want to join the Pittsburg LAG team?
Those who wish to join the Loving All Guests team in Pittsburg may contact Anna at 620-240-4134 or [email protected].
Here is The Lord’s Diner truck schedule, Monday through Friday:
• 3 to 3:45 p.m.: The Towers and Stilwell Apartments at 700 N. Pine
• 4:15 to 5:15 p.m.: Knights of Columbus Hall at 407 E. 11th St.
• 5:30 to 6 p.m.: Demarus Park at 16th and North Michigan
Want to help at the Diner?
The Lord’s Diner locations and trucks in Wichita also need help. To volunteer, visit TheLordsDiner.org/volunteer.
Silas Rosiere and his crew do more than fill the tummies of their Lord’s Diner truck clients in Pittsburg, they nourish their souls.
He and his Loving All Guests, or LAG, 10-member team focus on the entire person.
“About 85 percent of our guests are low-income and 10 to 15 percent of them are experiencing homelessness,” Rosiere said. “The LAG team is a team of volunteers who waits outside of the truck to get to know our guests.”
Monday through Friday service
The Lord’s Diner truck makes three stops every Monday through Friday evening in Pittsburg. The ministry doesn’t have a brick and mortar site.
“While we get to meet our guests and spend time with them,” Rosiere said, “we typically have some kind of cold drink for a hot day, or vice versa, a hot drink for a cold day, for them or just some other helpful items that can be used by our guests.”
The team may have clothes, personal hygiene products, or other items donated for that purpose. LAG team members minister to Diner clients about three times a week.
“Something I’ve noticed is that the people we serve are people,” Rosiere said. “I think that is something that we forget sometimes – especially people that don’t support The Lord’s Diner mission or anything like that – but they are people, and they appreciate being treated like people.”
Making friends of patrons
He and the LAG team spend time with the guests, getting to know them, and befriending them.
“I’ve noticed after spending several months with this sort of ministry how much it’s appreciated,” Rosiere said. “I think we all – I’m not really talking about the guests here – but all of us appreciate personal connection. And a lot of our guests at the Diner are drained of this. They don’t have as much as we do. I think a lot of the people we serve are isolated and don’t get a lot of personal connection. So, it really means a lot to them when there are people who are willing to help them out in their situation and be there for them.”
The LAG team has been ministering to Diners’ guests for about a year. Rosiere has been leading the team since July and took part in the Christ in the City training that ended in early June. (An article about the training is in the June 21 edition at DigitalCatholicAdvance.org.)
Emily Thome, the director of The Lord’s Diner, said The Lord’s Diner’s mission is two-fold.
“First, in our mission, we are called ‘to recognize our guests as Christ and share life’ with them. Then, specifically, we are called to do that ‘in the breaking of the bread,’” she said. “With The Lord’s Diner of Pittsburg operating through a mobile feeding model, in order to reach as many people as possible, the LAG Team offers us the opportunity to fulfill the first part of our mission – reaching out not only with food, but also with friendship, love, and a sense of belonging. It is a beautiful way to ‘share life’ with our guests.”