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Nationwide Army of Affection Has Fed 70,000+ Families;
Broadens Reach Beyond North America with Sights Set on New Objectives
NATIONWIDE (May 6, 2021) – Lasagna Love, a nationwide community impact movement that spreads kindness, feeds families and strengthens communities, is celebrating its one year anniversary, noting unprecedented numbers of volunteer participants, families fed, and lives touched. The newly minted non-profit, today powered by more than 25,000 volunteers across all 50 U.S. states, aims to weave random gestures of kindness back into our everyday lives.
Initiated at the start of the pandemic by a mom looking for a way to support community members as safety lockdowns took hold, Lasagna Love has kept neighbors connected with one another through an unexpected tether of kindness and support: homemade meal delivery. Volunteers, lovingly referred to as “Lasagna Chefs” (LCs) are matched with recipient families residing within their immediate community. Chefs prepare and deliver meals to not only dent food insecurity, but to provide support and comfort to those contending with challenge, whether that be defined by job loss, pandemic fatigue, or general overwhelm. To date, Lasagna Love has delivered more than 70,000 meals, averaging 4,000-5,000 a week across the nation.
“When my daughter Cimorene and I first started delivering meals a year ago, I never would have imagined that this would become a nationwide movement,” said Lasagna Love Founder Rhiannon Menn. “Lasagna Love is what it is today because of the generosity and kindness of individuals, local businesses, media and organizations that have given their time, energy, donations and passion to this project. The growth of this movement is proof that everyone has been hungry to connect and to help, they just needed a simple and safe way to do so.”
Lasagna Love gained exponential traction because Americans were looking for a safe and thoughtful way to stay connected at a time when we were disconnected–from everyone and everything. Menn, who fosters a culture of positivity, forward momentum and zero judgement, champions a steadfast resolve to spread kindness and by doing so, has united volunteers from all walks of life — decimating invisible barriers created by gender, age, race, politics or socio-economic background.
Shared purpose has therefore become the foundation upon which Lasagna Love continues to grow. An added benefit is that Lasagna Love volunteers have the opportunity to participate as much or as little as desired — whether one-time, weekly, or monthly. This flexible model has been so welcomed by volunteers that many gave extended involvement within Lasagna Love’s volunteer leadership matrix and have become Regional Directors or Regional Leaders, to help oversee weekly matching and assist with the regional development of Lasagna Love.
Megan Gotimer, volunteer chef and regional director/MidAtlantic, Lasagna Love. “Lasagna Love is and has always been about serving families, yet it’s also providing a connection with an entire ‘lasagna family.’ I found my community where it had always been: around the table.”
Lasagna Love Expands from ‘National’ to ‘Global’ Movement of Kindness
One year later, Lasagna Love now has an incredibly powerful platform through which to scale kindness beyond home-cooked meal delivery, Lasagna Love’s ultimate planned evolution.
Along with a new website, refined matching portal, and Lasagna Love online store, the organization welcomed a full Board of Directors and will soon hire an executive director to support further growth and international expansion. In the last month, Menn has been contacted with requests to grow Lasagna Love beyond America’s borders within Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. To spur additional random and positive acts of kindness,beyond lasagna deliveries, the non-profit created its Kindness Pledge at a time when its energetic and supportive faction of volunteer “lasagna chefs” are scaling beyond 1:1 deliveries, and initiating collaborations with local support organizations (shelters, food banks) and businesses (donations of goods) to serve hundreds of individuals at a time. Donations of goods have been offered by industry giants including Barilla, Calabro Cheese (CT), Eli’s Cheesecake (IL), Rao’s Homemade and Reynolds (IL).
“Random gestures of kindness cross all language and cultural barriers, yet our movement gained notoriety first due to volunteers delivering homemade pans of lasagna,” shared Menn. “The premise behind preparing and delivering a meal was our initial vehicle used to deliver comfort and kindness.
As Lasagna Love extends beyond America’s borders, we’re challenging ourselves to formulate gestures of goodwill that telegraph kindness as even simple acts have positive ripple effects we may not think about. For example, one of our recipients was so grateful to have received a lasagna, he paid his neighbor’s heating bill. We hear story after story of recipients paying it forward. Lasagna Love’s purpose has become so much more. Our vision is a nation in which kindness has been woven back into the fabric of our everyday lives. Right now, we’re accomplishing that one lasagna delivery at a time.”
To request a meal, become a volunteer Lasagna Chef, sign and engage the Kindness Pledge or support Lasagna Love through donations of the purchase of Lasagna Love store merchandise, visit www.lasagnalove.org.
About Lasagna Love
Lasagna Love is a viral grassroots community impact movement connecting neighbors with neighbors through gestures of kindness and support. The non-profit abides by three simple principles: feed families, spread kindness and strengthen communities. Founded by a mom in support of moms, Lasagna Love has joined together volunteers across all 50 states in America and aims to supplant historic stereotypes related to requests for support and to weave random acts of kindness back into our daily lives. To learn more about Lasagna Love and how you can get involved, visit www.lasagnalove.org or our social channels, @WeAreLasagnaLove (Instagram and Facebook).
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Media inquiries: Wendy Agudelo (978.994.1447; wendy@imageprofessors.com)