Lasagna Love Helps Feed Local Families Facing Food Insecurity
RESTON, VA — Eileen Scherzinger, an association management professional living in Reston, was looking for some way to help her neighbors struggling with food insecurity due to the coronavirus pandemic. She recently stumbled upon a Facebook post from Lasagna Love, looking for volunteers to help prepare meals for hungry families. This seemed like the answer.
"Cooking is my passion," Scherzinger said. "That's what actually appealed to me when I saw the request. I love to cook. Food and love, that's how I look at it."
Rhiannon Menn of Somerville, Massachusetts began Lasagna Love in April, as way to help out families whose breadwinners had lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Since then, volunteers from all across the country have joined the nonprofit's efforts as "Lasagna Mamas" and "Lasagna Papas," feeding families in their local communities.
After seeing Lasagna Love's Facebook post, Scherzinger signed up and became the region's first Lasagna Mama.
"When they reached out to me and said, 'Well, we don't have anybody in your area to match you with. It might be a few weeks.' I said, "No, no, no, there's something wrong with that because Reston, Herndon, this whole surrounding area of Northern Virginia, we have lots of families in need,'" she said.
Scherzinger was soon signing up volunteers to cook meals and finding families who needed assistance.
"There's no strings attached for the families requesting," she said. "That's the beauty of it. There's no stigma involved. Asking for help is extremely hard, especially for mothers. It's literally them going online. There's a short form to fill out. We don't ask for any Social Security numbers, proof of income. It's nothing like that. It's literally, what would this lasagna mean to help your family?"
Scherzinger then matches the families up with volunteers, who prepare a meal and deliver it to the requester's home.
"We match up the families by their location, by their request," she said. "The volunteers sign up by the level of commitment. There are some people who say, 'I want to do one lasagna. Period.' That's great, because one meal can make a difference to a family. But there are many that are signing up to do multiples on several occasions. It's just a random act of kindness that people are doing this and it's spreading like wildfire."
People looking to volunteer or to request a meal can do so by filling out a form on the Lasagna Love website. Individuals can also show their support by making a financial donation to help defray the costs of preparing and delivering the meals. Donations can be made by cash, Venmo, Paypal or grocery gift cards.
"Most of the people who are involved in this, the level of commitment in time is so minimal and that's what I love about this," Scherzinger said. "That's what appealed to me was that anybody can get involved. It's neighbors taking care of neighbors."
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Patch has partnered with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2020, more than 54 million Americans will not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.
This article originally appeared on the Reston Patch
