New Milford woman spreads lasagna love
Nonprofit prepares meals for those who are struggling
NEW MILFORD — When going through a rough time, sometimes a hot, fresh meal can be the best medicine.
New Milford’s Danielle Weisberg is regional leader of Lasagna Love, a nonprofit organization that provides a free lasagna meal delivered to the doorstep of anyone who is struggling,
whether financially or emotionally — no questions asked.
The mission of Lasagna Love is to “feed families, spread kindness, and strengthen communities,” its website said. Lasagna Love was founded in California in March of 2020, has spread to all 50 states and Australia and Canada. The nonprofit delivers from 2,500 to 3,500 lasagnas each week via more than 20,000 volunteers. Those interested in receiving a meal or who would like to recommend one be sent to someone else, can sign up on the organization’s website, lasagnalove.org.
Weisberg became involved with Lasagna Love in November of 2020, after a pandemic layoff from her job as an event planner due to COVID-19.
“I just felt a little bit helpless and a little bit bored, and I was just trying to find an outlet to help directly in my community,” said Weisberg, a mother of a 3-year-old son, Everett, with her husband, Andrew Weisberg, an attorney.
She said she wanted to give back.
“I was lucky that I only had one family member get COVID and his case was pretty mild,” she said. “Because we were in a
pretty good position during the pandemic, I felt like I needed to do something to help other people that were having more trouble than we were.”
She became a volunteer chef.
Volunteer chefs make the meals in their own kitchens and pay for all costs involved in their recipe, as well as the cost of cooking supplies and gas. They can make whatever lasagna
recipe they want and can volunteer as often as they want.
Those who are requesting a meal fill out a form asking what food allergies they may have. They are then matched with a volunteer chef who coordinates meal preparation and delivery. All meals, which are usually enough to feed a family, are delivered contactless. The meal is delivered within the week that
it was requested. A person can make a repeat request every 28 days.
Weisberg said it feels great knowing “I’m making something for somebody right in New Milford.”
Aside from New Milford, Weisberg has delivered to Brookfield and Danbury.
Weisberg became regional leader for Lasagna Love in July after the prior leader left and the regional director for Connecticut reached out to her and asked if she had a desire to “do a little more,” she said.
She puts in about five to 10 hours a week in her role, which involves answering emails and helping other volunteers.
Weisberg, who manages over 100 volunteers in Fairfield County, said Lasagna Love has grown in her coverage area. When she first started in her role, she was getting 20 meal requests a week.
Now, she gets about 50. The needs of those who have made meal requests has also grown, she said.
Initially, most requests were from those directly affected by the pandemic. Now, most who request meals are going through other kinds of stress, such as a job loss or even a first day back to school for a family with kids.
“This is an ongoing resource people can use as another resource for food,” she said.
Lasagna was initially chosen as the meal to make “because it’s a fairly simple thing to make that a lot of people like and it can feed a whole family,” Weisberg said. “Also, it’s a pretty hearty, comforting dish,” she said.
Volunteers, however, can make other dishes aside from lasagna.
Weisberg said she would like to see more people in her coverage area request meals.
“We have a lot of amazing volunteers that really want to cook,” she said.
Toward that end, she has cold called different organizations to see if they are interested in putting up flyers or handing out postcards.
On National Lasagna Day in July, Weisberg helped bake and deliver 20 lasagnas to the Children’s Center of New Milford, which were given to families at the center.
Additionally, the Stamford Senior Center will be working with Weisberg in a few weeks, giving out individual portions of lasagna to seniors to take home.
Weisberg has reached out to Camella’s Cupboard and New Milford Social Services, giving postcards to pass out to those who can benefit from Lasagna Love.
As a regional leader, Weisberg said she is being “bold about spreading the word making people understand what Lasagna Love is about.”
She said she finds it especially rewarding when, after making a delivery, she gets a text message from the person who received the meal, saying “It’s so nice to not have to cook tonight. I finally got to sit down with my family and enjoy a meal.”