At times like right now, when the California wildfires are burning my beloved LA to the ground and icy weather is freezing so much of the rest of the country, things can seem pretty hopeless.
That’s the best time to reach out and help someone else! Acts of kindness help both the recipient and giver. Kindness is great for the mental health of everyone involved.
No, we can’t help everyone – but simply by helping one person or family, we are making the world a better place for others and helping ourselves as well.
That’s a life lesson our family experienced in blazing color this week when Z and her dad worked on baking and delivering lasagna for families in need through the international Lasagna Love program.
Lasagna Love’s mission is to feed families, spread kindness and strengthen communities. Since 2020, the organization has provided more than 500,000 home-cooked meals touching over two million individuals through 56,000 volunteers spreading kindness across three countries. It’s amazing to be a part of it!
It’s truly an incredible experience to shop for ingredients, make a home-cooked meal with love and then deliver it yourself to a waiting and very appreciative local family. I don’t know of any other community service project that allows you to be this hands-on and directly see the impact of your time and gifts!
On a recent cold and snowy Saturday, E and Z shopped for the ingredients, then came home and made FOUR pans of lasagna – one for our family, and three for families in need in our Columbus community. This project was made even more special by the fact that lasagna was E’s mom’s specialty and they used her recipe. Anytime we eat lasagna, I always think of my beloved late mother-in-law, Z’s Grandma.
Once the lasagnas were baked and our entire house smelled like a four-star Italian restaurant, they packed up three still-hot lasagna pans along with some clementines, side salads and sodas. Then, they left to make their deliveries!
I think it’s so cool that Z did this project with her dad. She will never forget this experience or how good it felt to deliver those lasagnas! They returned home absolutely glowing and with some impactful stories to share. Two of the families receiving the lasagnas live in “abandoned motels” and when they opened the door to receive the delivery, E and Z got a glimpse of just how dire their living circumstances are.
It’s certainly hard to imagine someone being able to make a home-cooked meal in a motel room they are sharing with multiple other family members and, in some cases, pets. All of the families were super appreciative of the gift of a warm, home-cooked lasagna!
One of the families in particular really touched Z’s heart. She asked if we can bring them a meal again soon and we of course said yes! I could see this becoming a regular thing for us.
If you’ve ever wanted to have a direct impact on people in need – vs. donating to an organization where it feels less personal – then Lasagna Love is for you. I love that the organization’s founder chose to build her non-profit around this perfect made-with-love meal. What tastes more like a warm hug than a slice of homemade lasagna?
There are plenty of local families on the waiting-to-receive list at Lasagna Love. Just go to the website, sign up to become a volunteer and you will be paired with families in need. It’s an amazing experience that I recommend to every family!
If you know of other hands-on community service opportunities in our community, will you let me know in the comments below or over on Facebook and Instagram? We love working with Z on projects like this and I truly want us to continue strengthening our community and giving back in as many ways as we can.
