(WXYZ) — Volunteers across metro Detroit and the nation are spreading the love – lasagna love.
It's a national project feeding people who could use a little help and a warm meal during this pandemic.
"Lasagna Love" became the answer for many who faced a tough 2020. So far, the organization said about 1,500 volunteers have helped feed their neighbors.
"It was a long year. It was a whole decade worth of a year. It definitely, it changed everything," Aasir Newton, a Lasagna Love recipient, said.
"That resulted in a pretty severe spinal injury. So the simple act of bending to chop a vegetable or wash a dish is remarkably difficult at this point," Newton said.
The metro Detroit resident recalled hearing a national news report on Lasagna Love around the holidays.
During the pandemic, a woman in California sparked the creation of a nationwide network of volunteers who cook and deliver lasagna to people, like Newton, who could use a warm meal.
"When I tell I was like 12 years old again at my momma's table, not afraid of nothing, it was an element of comfort that goes beyond a culinary preference," Newton said.
Jolie Abreu, a volunteer and a regional leader in metro Detroit, recalls the joy of her first delivery.
"An hour and a half of my day and it was such a big impact with just this one little act, and I know they got as much if not more out of it than they did. and they had to eat the food," she said.
Abreu said recipients don't have to be in financial need.
"Sometimes we have had multiple times where it's just a working family, and you're just exhausted at the end of the day," she said.
Abreau says Lasagna Love has seen significant growth in metro Detroit, going from 16 volunteers in December to 143 as of now.
If you're interested, visit https://www.lasagnalove.org/
