This story is part of a bi-weekly series that celebrates people who are reaching across a divide to "build bridges" with those different from themselves. The Get Marty: Community Bridges series is made possible with the support of UPMC.
Chris Katchmar’s kitchen in Cranberry Township, just north of Pittsburgh, is a busy place. Even before the pandemic she’s been making comfort food for relatives, friends, and neighbors. So, when she found out about Lasagna Love she knew she had found her calling.
Chris is a Pittsburgh area coordinator for Lasagna Love, which was founded in California last spring, and has grown exponentially with chapters across the country. The concept is simple. If you need help with dinner, no matter the reason, you can sign up to receive a homemade lasagna.
Maybe you’ve lost your job and you’re trying to figure out how to put a meal on the table during the pandemic. Maybe you’re older or disabled and isolated because of COVID, or a frontline worker who could use one less stress of making dinner at the end of the day.
On the flip side, if you love to cook and want to help a neighbor you can volunteer to make and deliver a meal. You can indicate how far you’re willing to travel to deliver. Folks like Chris then match people who could use a home-cooked lasagna with neighbors willing to make and deliver them.
What might surprise you is the fact that, in the Pittsburgh region, Lasagna Love needs more people to sign up to RECEIVE a lasagna than people willing to make them. In Cranberry, Chris says they have about 500 volunteers and were able to match them with 115 families in the past week – which has grown from 30 just a few weeks ago. But still, they have potential volunteers “twiddling their thumbs” waiting to make a home-cooked meal for a neighbor.
If you can’t make a lasagna or don’t need one, why not support the organization with a financial donation that will help spread the Lasagna Love?
The Get Marty: Community Bridges project is produced with the generous support of UPMC. Life Changing Medicine.
