Comfort. Nourishment. Warmth. When people think of lasagna, these are some of the first words that come to mind. Lasagna Love, a non profit organization, took these words and brought them to reality. More than 1.6 million people impacted later, Lasagna Love has built a kind and giving community to support people struggling with food insecurity by giving out lasagna.
Lasagna Love Founder Rhiannon Menn saw a need during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide nourishment to those in her local community and began cooking and delivering lasagna to them. Word of her kindness spread and her organization took off. Currently, there are 45,000 Lasagna Love volunteers worldwide providing home-cooked meals to those in need.
“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,” said Donna Disbrow, the Regional Director in New Jersey, Local Leader Academy Director and Operations Special Projects Lead for Lasagna Love.
Disbrow explained that there are a few things that differentiate Lasagna Love from other non-profit organizations that address food insecurity. The organization is unique in that they specifically focus on lasagna rather than a variety of food. They also differ from other non-profits in that they don’t ask questions or have specific requirements for receiving food. People can request a lasagna once a month. If you’re in need financially, mentally, or in another way, Lasagna Love will support you through that.
While one might think that having 45,000 volunteers is certainly enough, one of Disbrow’s main motivations as the New Jersey Regional Director is to gain more volunteers for Lasanga Love to help with the immense amount of food insecurity. In New Jersey specifically, the organization relies on social media as their main source of both recruiting volunteers and attracting the attention of people in need.
The organization relies on fundraising to pay for its small national staff and also to provide local support. The local regions, including New Jersey, do not receive any funding from the organization, so they have to fundraise on their own, and lasagna makers have to provide their own supplies.
Disbrow says that people should become involved in the organization because “it’s one of the most rewarding things that you can do to help someone else, and for [her] it instills kindness back into the community.”
Lasagna being synonymous with comfort food is no coincidence for Lasagna Love, because their goal is to comfort people in their time of need. Although the volunteer making the food always cooks lasagna, due to different dietary restrictions, substituted meals are sometimes used instead.
For those looking for an opportunity to support others in need in their community, Lasagna Love provides a meaningful, simple, and impactful way to do just that. Their goal is simple: feed families, spread kindness, and strengthen communities.
For more information, visit the organization’s website: https://lasagnalove.org/.