By Barb Arland-Fye
Editor
A slender young woman wearing a light athletic jacket and tights set down her backpack in the entryway of Café on Vine and waited to enter the dining room on a warm Saturday afternoon. As a greeter during the lunch hour that day, I welcomed her to the café and assured her the wait would be short.
She smiled and said she hadn’t been aware of the café until recently. I asked her where she was from and she told me it was about an eight-hour walk away. “You walked here (to Davenport), with your backpack?” I asked. Yes, but she had a shopping cart to carry her belongings, she said. “Where are you staying?” I asked, and she told me, “the shelter.”
While living in a shelter was not her preference, she was grateful to have a place to sleep at night, she said. I wanted to hear the rest of her story and to help her find a permanent place to call home. It was her turn to go to the lunch counter, so I said simply, “I hope you get a permanent roof over your head soon.” She smiled and proceeded to the lunch counter.
Seven of us from Our Lady of the River Parish in LeClaire volunteered that day, Oct. 5, to serve lunch that parishioners had prepared. We brought the food to the café for our hungry guests, who may not have had lunch otherwise. Kitchen Manager Lauri Jones kept us organized and efficient but mindful that our guests deserve a welcoming presence.
Some of the 40-plus guests we served looked familiar, from previous times I volunteered at the café, which made them seem like family to me. One tall, thin young man who did not look familiar paced the entryway when told he needed to wait until other people had received their trays. On the menu that day was chili, chips, fruit cups, cornbread muffins, cookies and beverages. The café provided lettuce salad, coleslaw, saltine and graham crackers.
The young man did not speak, appearing preoccupied with his worries. He had walked into the entryway with a huge, heavy duffle bag. When he set the bag down, it eased the physical weight on his shoulder but clearly, he was carrying a burden. What would ease his mind, I wondered. When I told him it would be just a couple of minutes, he mumbled something under his breath.
Other people carried bags, too, which they placed in the entryway. Did those bags contain their life’s possessions? One man told me he had blankets in his bag. I can’t imagine having to carry my bedding with me throughout the day.
Before serving our guests, our volunteer group prayed for the people we were about to serve. I “nominated” my husband Steve to lead us. He prayed that our guests would have a good and satisfying meal and that all people would have the food they need.
Reflecting on the afternoon, I thought about how this meal provided sustenance but also a sense of community. We came together as the family of God — diners and volunteers — with our joys, sorrows, frustrations and irritations that every family faces.
I might never see the young woman or young man again or any of the other people I greeted at the door, but they have taken up spaces in my heart. I pray that the bags of those without a roof over their head may grow lighter and eventually tucked away in their permanent homes.
(Contact Editor Barb Arland-Fye at arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org)
