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'We're all in this together:' St. Augustine re-creation of Rosie the Riveter inspires community

Lindy Loose, who owns Gas Full Service Restaurant, is teaming up with Pie in the Sky to help low-income families received food.

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Rosie the Riveter was a cultural icon of World War II, so it's no surprise that a St. Augustine version is encouraging people through this pandemic.

Rosie the Riveter of the 1940s had the slogan: "We Can Do It." Meanwhile, St. Augustine's Rosie the Riveter of 2020 says, "We’re all in this together."

Lindy Loose is that St. Augustine version. Loose and her husband own Gas Full Service Restaurant, a mom-and-pop business with amazing hamburgers.

For years, they supported a local charity called Pie in Sky.

"We just donated gift certificates to her fundraiser for raffle prizes," Loose said.

The money raised helped Pie in the Sky, which bought and delivered groceries to low-income seniors in St. Johns County.

Now,  local restaurants are in need of help and Pie in the Sky is jumping in. It is buying meals from restaurants such as Loose's and Purple Olive, giving the meals to hundreds of low-income, home-bound seniors, according to Pie in the Sky Director Malea Guiriba.

"They’re going to deliver it," Loose said. "They’re going to take it out to their people. All we have to do is make the food!"

It’s a win-win "by helping out these restaurants that have been suffering and by giving our seniors this great meal," Guiriba said.

While it is only one meal for the seniors, it is a complete nutritional meal such as chicken and rice or beef pot roast. It's a meal low-income seniors rarely get. It’s comfort food during a troubling time.

'It’s also about the mental health and social well being of our seniors," Guiriba said. 

As for the re-creation of Rosie the Riveter, Guiriba said a television program about the cultural icon inspired her.  

"During the ’40s, during the war, the country put out this call to build the airplanes and everybody came together. And I thought… that’s us," she said. "So she asked me if I would do it, and I said, 'Oh sure.'"

So Loose rolled up her sleeves, tied a scarf around her head, and will now be the poster child for this new program… and for a new generation.

"We can do it," she said. "We are all coming together to help each other."

To help Pie in the Sky, click here.

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