It didn’t start with a plan. There were no corporate sponsors or glossy logos, no TED Talks or televised fundraisers. Just one mom in San Diego, a pan of lasagna, and a neighbor who needed a little help.
That’s how Lasagna Love began—quietly, humbly—in the uneasy early days of the pandemic. Founder Rhiannon Menn wasn’t trying to build a movement; she was trying to feed people. But word spread, and as the lockdowns lingered, so did the sense that something bigger was happening. One meal became ten, ten became a hundred, and soon thousands of volunteers across the U.S. were delivering homemade lasagna to strangers in need.
What Menn tapped into wasn’t just food insecurity—it was human hunger for connection.
Today, Lasagna Love has grown into a global grassroots force, powered by more than 80,000 volunteers and active across the U.S., Canada, Australia, and now the United Kingdom. To date, they’ve delivered more than 530,000 meals, feeding over 2.3 million people—not through food banks or government systems, but through neighbors quietly knocking on neighbors’ doors.
How It Works
The genius of Lasagna Love is its simplicity. Volunteers—known affectionately as “Lasagna Chefs”—sign up on lasagnalove.org, indicate how often they can cook and how far they’re willing to travel, and wait to be matched with someone in need. A tech platform facilitates the connections, preserving dignity and privacy on both ends. There are no eligibility forms, no income verification. If you say you need help, someone shows up—with a hot meal.
“It’s kindness, delivered,” the organization often says. And it is—warm, literal, and sometimes unexpected.
Who’s Stirring the Pot
Behind the scenes, Lasagna Love runs on the same energy as a family kitchen during Sunday dinner: collaborative, a little chaotic, but deeply committed. Executive Director Andria Larson and Chief of Staff Donna Disbrow oversee a volunteer-powered leadership structure that includes State Directors, Local Leaders, and thousands of Chefs. The central team remains intentionally lean, channeling most resources directly into community impact.
This isn’t an empire. It’s a village.
Why It’s Bigger Than Food
Lasagna Love may serve meals, but its mission is emotional: to restore faith in simple human kindness.
In an era of division, the project sidesteps politics and pretense. Volunteers don’t ask who you voted for. They don’t judge. They just cook. And recipients don’t have to perform poverty or prove need. All that’s required is a little trust—on both sides of the door.
That trust, it turns out, is contagious. In countless towns and cities, Lasagna Love has inspired micro-movements of mutual aid. Volunteers often report making lasting friendships with the families they cook for. Some recipients later become Chefs themselves.
“This is about connection,” says Larson. “It’s about showing up for someone in the most human way possible.”
Where It’s Going
What started at a kitchen table has now crossed oceans. With operations recently expanding to the UK, Lasagna Love is building the infrastructure to support a global community—upgrading its tech platform, forging local partnerships, and continuing to onboard volunteers at record pace.
But the mission hasn’t changed: feed families, spread kindness, and remind people that no one is alone—not when there’s lasagna in the oven and someone willing to bring it over.
As movements go, it’s unconventional. No headlines. No hard sell. Just thousands of little stories, stitched together by noodles and sauce. And that, perhaps, is what makes it so powerful.
