By Nick Dent
Tex Treloar surveys the fruit of his labours: a large tray of lasagne hot from the oven.
“We make it healthy by adding lots of vegetables,” the 11-year-old says.
“He could do this with his eyes closed now, I’m just the sous chef,” says his mum, Rebekah.
Kenmore residents Rebekah and Tex Treloar volunteer for the charity making lasagne for those in need. CREDIT: MARKUS RAVIK
She takes some garlic bread out of the oven to go with the lasagne. “We’re taking this to a family tonight where the dad has lost his job,” she explains.
Kenmore residents Rebekah and Tex are volunteers for the Queensland chapter of Lasagna Love, an organisation that cooks and delivers lasagne to people who need it: no questions asked, no strings attached.
They’ve been making one lasagna every week for four months at their own expense, and delivering them personally.
They got started when Tex, who is in year six, needed an organisation to volunteer for as part of the Rotary Junior Community Awards program.
“It’s difficult to find something that an 11-year-old is allowed to volunteer at because most are 16-plus,” Rebekah says.
She stumbled across Lasagna Love on her local Facebook Community page.
“Tex loves to cook, and his specialty is bolognese,” she says.
“If someone teaches me how to cook something, I’ll pick it up pretty easily and remember it,” Tex says.
The effort that goes into making lasagna makes it more rewarding for both giver and receiver, according to UQ psychologist James Kirby.CREDIT: MARKUS RAVIK
Lasagna Love was started in 2020 by San Diego chef Rhiannon Menn, and it quickly gained momentum under COVID, delivering 1000 meals a week and achieving non-profit status within months.
Hobart resident Stacy Klousia brought the idea to Australia the following year.
Natalie Ralph, Lasagna Love’s Queensland organiser, says she was attracted to the platform’s “no judgement” approach.
“Once somebody requests help [online], we’re not asking for any proof that you’re actually in need, because that need can be quite hard to prove.”
“Once somebody requests help [online],
we’re not asking for any proof that
you’re actually in need, because that
need can be quite hard to prove.”
Natalie Ralph
Ralph says that 1000 people were fed during Lasagna Love’s July awareness and recruitment drive. There are now 155 volunteers in Queensland making and delivering lasagne, with the lion’s share in Brisbane.
“It might be somebody struggling financially, a family with a new baby, people who have recently had surgery, people who are homeless, families living in emergency hotel accommodation.”
An anonymous recipient on the Lasagna Love website likened the service to “a hug I desperately needed”.
“There was one woman who had been going through a family breakup, and said this made such an impact, just knowing that people out of the kindness of their heart wanted to do something so simple. It was very emotional,” Rebekah says.
The 2024 Foodbank Hunger Report found that nearly 700,000 Queensland households had experienced food insecurity in the previous 12 months, meaning they were not eating quality, variety, or desirable food.
Meanwhile, a Volunteering Queensland report found that 64 per cent of Queenslanders volunteered in 2023, for an average of 21.6 hours a month.
Ralph says there is no typical profile for her volunteer lasagne chefs. “We’ve got men, women, older people, younger people. We’ve got people with super-busy work lives. Lots of families get their children involved as well.”
“Lasagne requires some effort, so it’s more meaningful because you’ve taken the time to create something, as opposed to just, ‘I’m just gonna throw 20 bucks at it,’” Kirby says.
The Lasagna Love model, he says, takes away the sense of shame those needing help might feel.
“If you can give help and the person doesn’t have to justify why they need it, that’s often experienced as better, because as soon as you’re having to justify why you might need a meal, it’s almost a defensive position,” Kirby said.
“The demand is obviously going to continue to grow.”
Rebekah Treloar says she and Tex will continue with Lasagna Love after his Rotary volunteering requirement has finished.
“You want your kids to grow up being good humans,” she says.
Tex said, “it feels good knowing that we’ve helped someone in a small way, but it still has a big impact”.