Chefs wanted: Lasagna Love seeking local volunteers
A worldwide volunteer organization is looking for local volunteers to help with their mission — delivering free lasagna to those in need.
In 2020 when the COVID pandemic was getting underway, founder Rhiannon Menn started out by posting on Facebook advertising free lasagna to anyone who needed it. Her and her toddler made and delivered food to her needy neighbors. Others on Facebook quickly got involved, offering assistance and giving requests. And it quickly grew, drawing in both those in need and those who could cook.
The first month, 100 lasagnas were handed out. By September, there were 500 volunteers across the country. In late September, the Today Show picked up Lasagna Love’s story — and the volunteers came pouring in.
Now, there are over 35,000 volunteers across the United States as well as Canada and Australia. These volunteers have delivered more than 250,000 lasagnas that have impacted more than a million individuals.
Lynn Hirsch, now Lasagna Love’s Outreach Director, discovered the nonprofit from the Today Show. Newly-transplanted to Alpharetta, she decided that she was going to take her free time and start helping others.
“I really love to cook, I love to feed others,” Hirsch said.
Hirsch realized that they needed plenty of requests in the area, and began creating more-local buzz for
Lasagna Love. Thanks to the outreach she was doing as a chef, she quickly became Outreach Coordinator for Georgia and Mississippi, and has now become the Outreach Director for the entire nonprofit.
“It’s important to me to make sure we have chefs where we need chefs and requests where we need requests,” she said of her outreach efforts.
With requests quickly ramping up in Gordon County and all across
Northwest Georgia, Lasagna Love has found itself in a drought of area volunteers. As of early November, there were no chefs in the entirety of Gordon County, with the closest ones operating out of Cartersville.
Across the entirety of Northwest Georgia, which includes Ringgold, Dalton, Rome, and other large towns, there are only 37 chefs with 12 active in the first week of November. That’s definitely not enough to fill the ever-growing needs of the community. Right now, according to the organization’s website, someone requesting a lasagna in Calhoun could have to wait over 40 days to have their request fulfilled.
Signing up is easy: those interested in working with Lasagna Love can simply visit lasagnalove.org/ volunteer and fill out a form. This form helps the nonprofit gauge how often a volunteer would like to help out, how many families they want to cook for, how far they are willing to travel to deliver, and what dietary restrictions or allergies they would be able to accommodate.
Volunteers can sign up to deliver once a week, every other week,
or once a month — or just once. They can also deliver as close to home or as far from home as they are comfortable with.
“It’s all very flexible,” said Hirsch. Once a week, the nonprofit’s computer pairs up volunteers with requestees, and emails are sent out to each prospective chef. Chefs create their lasagna and go through a quick no-contact delivery process
where they leave it at the home and then text the requestee. This is for health concerns, and because sometimes that makes it easier to ask for help.
“Some people want to remain anonymous,” Hirsch said.
Requestees don’t have to qualify to ask for help. There is no income verification, and those considering reaching out shouldn’t just
consider financial need — Lasagna Love is for anyone who needs just a little help be it from financial circumstances or due to mental or physical health.
“There are no questions about it, there’s no judgment,” said Hirsch. “We’re encouraging people, trying to get past the stigma of asking for help.”
Those who want to request a meal simply have to sign up via the website, disclose any dietary restrictions, and say how many people that the lasagna will need
to feed. To request a lasagna visit lasagnalove.org/request.
“The main mission of lasagna love is that we feed families, we spread kindness, and we strengthen communities,” said Hirsch.
Anyone who cannot volunteer but would like to donate can do so at lasagnalove.org/donate, or contact Lynn Hirsch at lynn@lasagnalove.org to see how donations can benefit local volunteers that feed Gordon County residents.
For much more information, visit lasagnalove.org.