South Lake Tahoe cooks spread love and kindness with lasagna

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The mission of Lasagne Love is simple - feed families, spread kindness, and strengthen communities. The organization connects those who need a meal to those willing to volunteer and cook one.

What started with COVID-related struggles of families in her community and her own feeling of helplessness, a Kihei, Maui mom Rhiannon Menn, founded Lasagna Love in 2020. She and her young daughter began making and delivering meals to neighborhood families struggling with pandemic woes. Some were contending with income or job loss as well as general fear or being overwhelmed. Menn realized what was needed most was comfort and kindness.

Since then, 1.2M people have been fed in the US, Canada, and Australia by over 35,000 volunteers making and delivering lasagnas to families in need of some extra love and kindness.

Lasagna Love is a grassroots movement that aims to positively impact communities by connecting neighbors with neighbors through homemade meal delivery.

The efforts of the group not only help address food insecurity, but also provide an act of welcome comfort, and kindness when times are uncertain, and people are stressed or exhausted.

Lasagne Love believes that kindness, however big or small, is the key to strengthening our communities, and that movement has arrived in South Lake Tahoe.

Marcia Duggan started with Lasagna Love in September 2020. No one in her area knew anything about it and so she printed up some flyers and started posting them in towns near her. The posters were an outreach for cooks as well as families in need of lasagna. Shortly after starting, people responded to help as well as receive, and in December 2020 she was asked to become what at that time was called a regional leader, now they call themselves local leaders.

Her area now spans from South Lake Tahoe to Modesto. She has bout 60 cooks under her though she's had as many as 80! For the South Shore, there are ten active cooks at this time. Cooks have a choice of cooking every week, every other week, or once a month. There is an average of at least five families a week that are fed in South Lake Tahoe.

So far, Marcia's overall group has delivered to over 2,500 families in the last two years.

That's a lot of lasagnas!

Three of South Lake Tahoe Lasagne Love chefs, Jeanne Prestella, Laurie Flesher, and Diane Weidinger have been baking lasagnas for a while and are now bringing their talents to a Bread and Broth Monday Meal where 90 will be treated to the tasty meal. Both Laurie and Jeanne are members of Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra, and some of their fellow club members will be helping out at that January 30th meal.

South Lake Tahoe chefs also recently cooked for the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless.

For those wishing to find out more about spreading kindness through lasagna, register at their website https://www.lasagnaloveportal.org/registration. To request a meal, or for more information, visit: https://www.lasagnalove.org/.