Food truck manned by people with autism feeds the homeless in St. Peter’s Square

"It's nice to be able to offer a hot meal to people who are often marginalized or forgotten."

Despite the gray and rainy sky, St. Peter’s Square was celebrating on Friday, April 1. Under the Bernini colonnade, young autistic people prepared and served pizzas, sandwiches, and cakes to the homeless of the area. The young people, members of the Italian Autism Foundation, had just come from a private audience with Pope Francis, held on the eve of World Autism Awareness Day (April 2).

“It’s nice to be able to offer a hot meal to people who are often marginalized or forgotten,” says Gabriele Nughes, who has autism. At 22, he’s in charge of the waiters at PizzAut, a pizzeria in the Milanese hinterland where a dozen young autistic pizza makers, waiters, and bartenders work. To celebrate their visit to the Vatican, they brought their red and black food truck, the “PizzAutObus,” to St. Peter’s Square. “It’s beautiful; it’s a unique opportunity,” says Gabriele, wearing a red apron with the slogans “Let’s feed inclusion,” and “Don’t trample on dreams.”