Rhiannon Menn, founder of Lasagna Love, is the recipient of a 2023 Nation of Neighbors℠ empowerment award and a $10,000 grant.
During the pandemic, Rhiannon was looking for a way to help other moms. She began cooking extra meals and leaving them on community member’s doorsteps. “One thing led to another, and I found myself at the head of a global nonprofit organization responsible for connecting thousands of people each week through homemade meal delivery,” said Rhiannon.
Lasagna Love intentionally has a three-part mission: to feed families, spread kindness, and strengthen communities. “We deliver kindness in the form of a lasagna pan. For some, it fulfills the need of a hungry belly, and for others, the need of a hungry soul,” said Rhiannon.
Lasagna Love will use the Nation of Neighbors grant to help offset some of the costs associated with its new volunteer platform, Project Ricotta – a collaborative, open-source initiative to build a best-in-class volunteer portal and app. “This project will help address challenges limiting our ability to continue to grow – like improving volunteer utilization and engagement, managing hyperlocal spikes in supply and demand, and enabling our volunteer leaders to leverage data,” said Rhiannon.
With the new volunteer portal, Lasagna Love expects to feed 1 million people annually by 2025. “From age 7 to 70, from all walks of life, our community of volunteer chefs has mobilized a true kindness movement that is touching the lives of countless individuals,” shared Rhiannon.
