Fostering unlikely connections, national non-profit group Lasagna Love helps to garner kindness throughout Rhode Island, the United States and the globe, one lasagna at a time.
Lasagna Love is driven to bring communities together by connecting neighbors through homemade meal delivery. Through their movement, the organization pairs volunteer chefs with people in need within their local community, providing fresh home-cooked lasagna.
Founded in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lasagna Love was started by Rhiannon Menn, who was looking to help other mothers in her community, according to the Lasagna Love website. With help from her children, she wished to help others without questioning what hardships they may have been facing.
A large part of the organization’s mission is to break down the stigma surrounding reaching out for help, according to their website. When signing up to be a recipient, the organization does not ask for the individual’s situation, whether it’s physical, financial or whatever other issue they may be dealing with.
Volunteer chefs are allowed to pick their own schedule, whether they can make one lasagna a week or a month, according to their website. If chefs face their own hardships, they can pause their volunteering until they are willing and able to cook again.
Looking for a way to spend a community service day away from work, Providence Local Leader Lewis Pollis was thrilled with Lasagna Love. He didn’t know he would become a leader at the time, but he was happy to be a part of the organization’s mission.
“There’s nothing more fundamental about being a good neighbor than if someone is going through a hard time, you bring a lasagna,” Pollis said. “Lasagna Love just takes that principle and scales it.”
Lasagna Love’s commitment to ensure help for all regardless of the need is a major draw factor for Pollis.
“I think that there’s a big emphasis in our world about who deserves help right now,” Pollis said. “A big Lasagna Love principle is ‘everyone deserves it.’ If you take the time and have the humility to ask for help, we take it on faith that it’s worth helping you, and I think that is a very refreshing approach.”
When volunteer chef and University of Rhode Island English and Creative Writing professor and department chair Carolyn Betensky found out about the organization, she found that there was much to love.
“I thought it was kind of funny, but I thought I would give it a try because I like to cook,” Betensky said. “I love the idea of Lasagna Love. It’s a mutual aid society. It is not a charity. It’s not governmental. Lasagna Love just acts to pair people who need lasagnas with people who can make lasagnas.”
As a Providence native, Betensky appreciates the journey of delivering her baked goodness.
“I see places and meet people I probably wouldn’t see or meet otherwise,” Betensky said. “Every couple of weeks I meet a couple new families or individual people.”
Giving people a nurturing comfort meal without any hesitation is a great joy of the process, according to Betensky.
“I’m happy that there are no questions asked and we just feed people,” Betensky said. “It’s people feeding other people and the fact that it’s a mutual aid society means a lot to me.”
URI can be a helpful hand in the Lasagna Love journey, according to Sydney Ormerod, program ambassador for Kent County.
“Spread the word,” Ormerod said. “Become a chef if you can. You can also be a chef and need a meal at the same time. I think right now we’re just trying to spread the word out as much as we can that this organization exists.”
Individuals looking to get involved can visit the volunteer page on the organization’s website.
