Lasagna Love volunteer Robin Omdahl of Peterborough, Ontario, prepares lasagna for delivery
COURTESY OF ROBIN OMDAHL
A batch of meals is assembled.
COURTESY OF TAMARA CHAPMAN
Lasagna, with love
Rhiannon Menn felt the need to help others.
“Like so many people, at the beginning of the pandemic I was feeling helpless,” says Menn, who lived in San Diego at the time. “I love to cook, and so I decided to start making and delivering lasagna with my then 3-year-old daughter for any family nearby that needed a home-cooked meal.”
What began as a personal project has evolved into a global non-profit called Lasagna Love, which was launched in 2020. More than 45,000 volunteers help their neighbours by preparing and delivering free home-cooked lasagna and other hearty meals. In just three years since its inception, the organization, which is based in Massachusetts, now operates throughout the United States, in nine Canadian provinces and five Australian regions and has fed more than 1.5 million people.—Dan Jones
Cooking in Canada
Lasagna Love (lasagnalove.org) operates in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
“It warms my heart when I make a delivery on someone’s front step and, when I get back in the car, I can see them in the window expressing their appreciation and gratitude,” says Tricia McMullan, regional director in Eastern Canada for Lasagna Love.—DJ