Nonprofit Partners with Rao’s Homemade and Pastene
to Deliver Home Cooked Lasagna’s to Families in Need
NATIONWIDE (July 27, 2021) – In celebration of National Lasagna Day (Thursday, July 29th), Lasagna Love will attempt to break its existing record for lasagnas delivered. The nationwide grassroots movement of kindness that connects neighbors through homemade meal delivery, has partnered with Rao’s Homemade and Pastene to feed families, spread kindness, and strengthen communities.
Since its founding in May 2020, Lasagna Love’s army of volunteer “Lasagna Chefs” (LCs) has delivered upwards of 95,000 meals and positively impacted more than 400,000 lives. To pay homage to one of America’s most popular comfort foods, Lasagna Love has challenged itself and its volunteer chefs to deliver 5,000+ lasagnas across America in one week, surpassing the 100,000 lasagna delivery mark for the year.
To help make this effort a reality, Rao’s Homemade®, a leading producer of premium pasta sauces, and Pastene, a leading importer of authentic Italian foods and ingredients, have donated ingredients needed to create the perfect homestyle lasagna.
Pastene, is donating approximately 1,000 packages of authentic Italian Lasagne Festonate and Kitchen-Ready Tomatoes® and is also donating 10 percent of its July lasagna noodle sales to Lasagna Love.
“We are honored to support Lasagna Love and their volunteer’s efforts to feed as many families as possible in celebration of National Lasagna Day,” said Mark Tosi, president of Pastene. “Our company has a long-standing history of supporting local communities through donations to food pantries therefore supporting Lasagna Love’s community outreach efforts is a natural fit for us.”
Rao’s Homemade®, Lasagna Love’s National Sauce Sponsor, is recognized for high quality sauces. From classic Marinara to savory Bolognese, Rao’s Homemade offers 12 sauce varieties in addition to pizza sauces, alfredo and pesto versions, as well as soups, pasta and frozen entrees. Each Rao’s Homemade offering is made with simplicity in mind, using the fewest number of the highest-quality ingredients and taking the fewest number of steps.
“Lasagna Love’s efforts to feed families compliments our own commitment to our fans: to bring family and loved ones around the dinner table to enjoy a delicious meal,” said Risa Cretella, Executive Vice President, Group General Manager for Rao’s Homemade. “As the National Sauce Sponsor, Rao’s Homemade is delighted to align our brand with an organization that shares our love for giving back to the community.” Rao’s Homemade is donating a jar of sauce to all active Lasagna Love volunteers to help prepare batches of lasagna and is supplying additional sauce donations to Lasagna Chefs preparing lasagna deliveries in Chicago, IL, Omaha, NE and San Diego, CA.
#NationalLasagnaDay celebrates single-pan comfort food
National Lasagna Day is an annual celebration of a long-favored meal of Italian descent made with layers of pasta, tomato sauce, meats or poultry, vegetables, and plenty of cheese. The unctuous, single pan meal is one of America’s most favored comfort foods, and in the last year, has become the primary vehicle for delivering kindness to neighbors and community members courtesy of Lasagna Love. Initiated at the start of the pandemic by a mom looking for a way to support community members during safety lockdowns, Lasagna Love has connected neighbors through homemade meal delivery. More than 20,000 “Lasagna Chefs” (LCs) are matched weekly with recipient families residing within their immediate community. Chefs prepare and deliver meals to not only dent food insecurity, but to provide support and kindness to those contending with challenge, whether defined by job loss, pandemic fatigue, or general overwhelm.
“National Lasagna Day is like our Super Bowl,” said Rhiannon Menn, founder of Lasagna Love. “For more than a year, lasagna deliveries have been the foundation on which Lasagna Love has strengthened communities, so a day dedicated to lasagna is the perfect time to accelerate our efforts to do even more.”
Even with the arrival of humid summertime temperatures, Lasagna Chefs across America have continued to make and deliver meals to community members in every state across the country. Lasagna Love gained exponential traction because Americans were looking for a safe and thoughtful way to stay connected at a time when we were disconnected–from everyone and everything. With anticipated large-scale deliveries of hundreds of lasagnas already scheduled in California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, and Virginia, Lasagna Love volunteers are preparing to surpass the existing record for lasagnas delivered. It also signals a sobering reality that demand for meals is still high despite rebound from pandemic lockdowns.
To request a meal on National Lasagna Day, to become a volunteer Lasagna Chef, or to support Lasagna Love through the purchase of Lasagna Love store merchandise, visit www.lasagnaloveprd.wpengine.com. Lasagna Love volunteers are encouraged to participate as much or as little as desired — whether one-time, weekly, or monthly.
About Pastene
For over 145 years, Pastene has been bringing family and friends to the table with uncompromising quality and taste. For generations, we have turned meals into memories with our wide selection of high-quality ingredients. With a strong presence and offices in both the United States and Canada, the Company’s iconic yellow and red labels grace gourmet items from tomatoes to tuna, breadcrumbs to olive oil, including hard-to-find varieties of olives and artichokes.
About Rao’s Homemade®
Rao’s Homemade® offers authentic sauce made with whole Italian tomatoes and other Italian specialty foods, including bronze die cut pastas, slow-simmered soups and premium frozen entrees. Each product is made with simplicity in mind, using high-quality ingredients. Find out more at www.raos.com. Follow us on social at: @raoshomemade.
About Lasagna Love
Lasagna Love is a viral grassroots community impact movement connecting neighbors with neighbors through gestures of kindness and support. The non-profit abides by three simple principles: feed families, spread kindness and strengthen communities. Founded by a mom in support of moms, Lasagna Love has joined together volunteers across all 50 states in America and aims to normalize asking for help when it’s needed, and to weave kindness back into the fabric of our daily lives. To learn more about Lasagna Love and how you can get involved, visit www.lasagnaloveprd.wpengine.com or our social channels, @WeAreLasagnaLove (Instagram and Facebook).
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Media inquiries:
For Lasagna Love: Wendy Agudelo (978.994.1447); wendy@lasagnaloveprd.wpengine.com
For Pastene: Jackie Rodriguez:; 561-299-3560; jrodriguez@tilsonpr.com
For Rao’s Homemade: Bobbie Semple (860-391-2627); bobbies@mbooth.com