Lasagna Love 2022
7.2022 Just about 2 years ago, I joined Lasagna Love as a volunteer chef - signing up to deliver a home cooked meal to neighbors in need. At the time, Lasagna Love was very much in its infancy - present in major cities scattered across the US. But as the pandemic raged on - this little organization grew and grew, and continues to grow! I’m quite proud to share that Lasagna Love is now a global nonprofit organization, active all across the US and Puerto Rico, plus Canada, Australia, and we’re starting to create a footprint in London! But more than that - as of June 27, 2022 - we’ve officially fed ONE MILLION people!! That’s a million individuals impacted just from neighbors being kind to one another. The basic and core concept of Lasagna Love is anyone can request a meal through the website lasagnalove.org. They are then matched to a volunteer chef in their area, who will connect and coordinate delivery of a home cooked main dish (if you haven’t guessed - 95% of the time it’s a lasagna, although other meals are welcome).
On a more local level, here in Georgia (and in other places, too) we’ve further spread the lasagna love by partnering with other local nonprofits - such as the Ronald McDonald House, The Fisher House Foundation, and the Trans Housing Coalition - where we provide meals on a recurring basis. I personally have been cooking for the Veterans Empowerment Organization - where we serve about 35 vets dinner (main dish, salad, bread, cookies) once a month. And most recently, for The Elizabeth Foundation - where we provide 8-10 lasagnas on the second Sunday of each month - which they use to serve meals at one of the larger homeless camps in the Atlanta area. Generally, myself and one other volunteer split the lasagna cooking. It may not sound like much, but a home cooked meal goes a long way. Lasagna Love founder Rhiannon Menn says it best: “There’s power in food. Any Lasagna Love volunteer can tell you that, but I think most humans know this intrinsically. A simple, home-cooked meal can provide someone kindness, comfort, and a feeling of connectedness during a difficult time. Most often, our volunteers provide meals to families going through daily, individual struggles – the loss of a job, a feeling of overwhelm, recovery from a surgery… these are struggles that nearly all of us can identify with. But over the last year, our volunteers have stepped up to do more. They’ve provided home-cooked meals to Afghan refugees, driven their RV to feed families in the aftermath of devastating tornados, and come together to feed hundreds who lost their homes in wildfires. We are providing comfort not only during times of individual struggle, but during times of widespread tragedy and chaos.” Finally, July 29th is National Lasagna Day! Our “superbowl” - last year we set a goal to deliver 5000 meals during the week of NLD. And we crushed it by more than 1000 lasagnas! This year, we are aiming even higher - striving to deliver 10,000 meals; and sign up 1000 new chefs!
How to help Like to cook? Volunteer as a chef HERE (you can set your own availability/frequency, how far you’re willing to travel,etc). Don’t like to cook, but still want to help? There are other opportunities behind the scenes, and we always need help with outreach and spreading the word. Got a little extra coin? You can donate to the organization; or consider supporting a nearby volunteer chef. Volunteers pay for everything out of pocket. And, if interested in supporting my efforts directly, I’m always in need of ingredients and supplies. Grocery store, amazon, or cash gift cards are super helpful. And I’m happy to provide receipts.
5.2021
BoomTownLOVE Friends,
As you may recall, I started volunteering with Lasagna Love (lasagnalove.org) back in October as a ‘Lasagna Chef’ - providing home cooked meals to neighbors in need.
In addition to the direct family requests, here in Atlanta we also partner with local community programs to provide around 400 individual lasagna meals (lasagna, cookie, and roll/bread) each month:
𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 & 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿: 250 meals. Agape provides children a place to do virtual school and/or after-school support, and also provide lunch and dinner. Some families will get food boxes, and we will include a full size lasagna also.
𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀: 50 meals. One Touch distributes these meals along with feminine hygiene products to homeless women across Atlanta.
𝗖𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗦 𝟭𝟴𝟬: 80-100 meals.They provide a safe learning and community facility for APS children, including internet services, tutoring and a nutritious meal.
𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝟵𝟵𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲: Provides food to anyone who needs it via their community refrigerators. Volunteers can donate lasagnas anytime to one of their 5 fridges across Atlanta!
On Friday March 26th, Agape allowed us to utilize their commercial kitchen space to cook and package the lasagnas for the April distribution. We made 30 lasagnas, while also splitting and packaging about 15 (previously cooked) lasagnas into individual portions. We also got to tour the incredible facilities and say hi to a few of the kids. Atlanta’s 11Alive News did a story on it!
The core value behind Lasagna Love is to spread kindness. Anyone can request a meal for any reason - NEED does not look the same for anyone. Whether it’s food or financial insecurity, dealing with mental health or an emotional event, a personal loss, or even just being stressed or too busy to think about it - a home cooked meal goes a lot farther than you think.
All supplies, ingredients, and of course time - come directly from us, the volunteers. Some folks have asked me how they can help, so if interested, here’s what you can do:
Volunteer to be a Lasagna Chef, nominate someone for a meal, or just share lasagnalove.org
Donate to lasagnalove.org, or directly to a local LL chef. If you’re interested in supporting me directly, I have an Amazon Wishlist for supplies. I can also accept gift cards for grocery items, or cash through Venmo @Jessica-Eckler or PayPal. https://paypal.me/pools/c/8y9zPxKyrK
Just be kind to others. I know it can sound cliché, but you really never know what someone is going through.
11.2020
As we near the end of 2020, many people are still struggling and being affected by the pandemic, natural disasters, and all of the other stressors that this particularly challenging year has thrown at us. Food insecurity is still a major concern for many across the nation. Lasagna Love is a national grassroots movement of volunteers helping those struggling due to the pandemic, and inspiring neighborhoods to come together, one lasagna at a time. Our mission is not only to help address the incredible rise in food insecurity among families, but also to provide a simple act of love and kindness during a time full of uncertainty and stress.
Lasagna Love offers a judgement-free opportunity for anyone to request, for any reason, a home cooked meal prepared and delivered to them at no cost.
As a “Lasagna Mama,” I am committed to delivering meals to at least two families a month. And this month, here in the Atlanta area, we are also partnering with Operation Feed for a special initiative to prepare and distribute meals to local families.
Operation Feed is an organization run by parents of Atlanta Public School students. Since many people in the APS community have lost jobs and been financially impacted by the pandemic, Operation Feed has been delivering food and personal items to those in need.
On November 19th, we expect to deliver food and meals to 200 families, and Lasagna Mamas in the Atlanta area have committed to over 100 lasagnas so far!
I’m proud to be a part of this wonderful group, and more proud to have the support of @BoomTownLOVE through generous donations to both organizations. If you want to help, please spread the word! Sign up to volunteer! If you’re not interested in cooking, but still want to help, donations can be made on the website, or to a Lasagna Mama directly for supplies and ingredients.
For more information: Lasagna Love Operation Feed Atlanta
Thanks!
Senior Billing Specialist, Atlanta
BoomTown!
