UPDATE: On Monday, Aug. 9, Lynn Hirsch, Georgia outreach coordinator for Lasagna Love, said three Moultrians had volunteered with the organization over the weekend after this article was posted. More cooks are always needed; if you’re interested, visit lasagnalove.org.

Originally posted 4:40 p.m. Aug. 6, 2021.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — A national charity is looking for a few good cooks in the Moultrie area.

Lasagna Love started in May 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Rhiannon Menn began delivering homemade lasagna to families she knew in need of some help. Her social media posts about the deliveries prompted both more requests for meals and offers of help from other cooks. Now, only 15 months later, it reaches more than 1,000 cities in all 50 states. It’s supported by more than 25,000 volunteers who have delivered, on average, 4,000 meals a week across the country, according to a press release from the group.

Lasagna Love has received 14 requests from families in and around Moultrie, according to Lynn Hirsch, the group’s Georgia outreach leader, but it has no one currently cooking meals here.

“You can tell we don’t have people there,” Hirsch said. “[Some of these requests] go back to February.”

Becoming a Lasagna Love chef is easy, Hirsch said. First, sign up at the website, lasagnalove.org. You can sign up for a single time, just to see if it’s right for you, or you can sign up for once a week or less frequently.

The national organization matches the volunteer with one of the families in the area who has requested a meal. The organization gives the volunteer contact information for the family, who the volunteer then calls to discuss how many people they’re cooking for, any dietary restrictions, and when they can deliver the meal.

The volunteer is free to use their own recipe, allowing for dietary restrictions, Hirsch said, although Lasagna Love has a recipe if the cooks need it. In fact, while the organization started with lasagnas, its volunteers also provide other hearty casserole-type dishes.

“We don’t just cook lasagnas any more,” Hirsch said.

Lasagna Love founder Rhiannon Menn described the group like this:

“Lasagna Love exists to deliver comfort where we experience it most often — our family dining table — and to prove that even small displays of kindness can have profound and lasting impact,” Menn said in the press release. “Our mission is not only to help address the rise in food insecurity, but to also provide a simple act of love and kindness during a time of uncertainty and stress and reduce stigmas associated with parents — especially moms — asking for help when it is needed most. We accomplish this by creating an easy and accessible way for every person to help a neighbor in need in a way that is comfortable and meaningful for them.”

For more information — or to volunteer or to request a meal — visit lasagnalove.org.