Lasagna-Fest Will Start New Year Off By Warming Hearts and Bellies

United Way of Southwest Louisiana has partnered with Lasagna Love and Popeye's Foundation to organize Lasagna-Fest. Local partners will prepare and distribute over 8,400 lasagna meals to families in Southwest Louisiana from January 8 to 10th.

Lasagna Love is a nonprofit organization that originated during the pandemic as a grassroots movement to build stronger communities. The organization delivers meals to families in need, spreading kindness and celebrating the hard workers who keep our community going.

Lasagna Love will partner with United Way of Southwest Louisiana for three days to prepare 250 pans of lasagna using a Popeye's Food Love Grant. United Way of Southwest Louisiana will then distribute the lasagnas to families in the region through its partners.

Denise Durel, President and CEO for United Way of Southwest Louisiana, expresses her gratitude for this opportunity and how thrilled the partners are to participate in this effort. This Initiative will significantly impact the families they serve and provide them with a warm meal, hope, and support as they start a new year.

CITGO Petroleum, Turner Industries, Westlake Corporation, PPG, GRACE, Catholic Charities, Abraham's Tent, Second Harvest Food Bank, Calcasieu Council on Aging, and many other United Way of Southwest Louisiana partners are working together to prepare an additional 350 lasagnas for the three-day event from January 8 to 10th, 2024.

This three-day event will celebrate our hardest workers by distributing more than 8,400 lasagna meals to housekeeping and janitorial staff at Calcasieu parish schools, Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, several casinos, Catholic Charities, Abraham's Tent, Second Harvest, and Calcasieu Council on Aging clients.

“We are heavily invested in the mission United Way of SWLA leads within our community, and were humbled when presented with the opportunity to assemble our resources and compete this task,” said Sterling Neblett, CITGO Lake Charles Vice President and General Manager, “After partnering with Turner Industries to prepare and assemble the meals, we are excited to have not only answered the call, but enhance the outcome by providing more than double the meals that were originally planned.”

To learn more about this Initiative, please visit unitedwayswla.org/lasagna.

If you want to donate $20 towards another pan of lasagna for a Southwest Louisiana family, please text the keyword LASAGNA to 41444.

To learn more about this Initiative and volunteer, please visit  unitedwayswla.org/lasagna.

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About United Way of Southwest Louisiana

Working with the community and many partners for 85 years, United Way of Southwest Louisiana tackles the critical human services issues facing our five-parish footprint of Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jeff Davis. Our United approach is changing the odds for all children, families and individuals in the community, so we all have the opportunity to succeed. Learn more about our life-changing work at Unitedwayswla.org and follow us on social media @UnitedWayofSWLA

- Operating in the TOP 9% of all U.S. United Ways. –TOP 125 out of 1185 United Ways!
- Maintains a 4-STAR charity rating with Charity Navigator and a PLATINUM SEAL OF TRANSPARENCY with Candid (formerly GuideStar)
- Mackenzie Scott Recipient (1^st year, member of the original #UNITEDWAY46)
- LEPA Award Winner 2022 from Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness for Outstanding Service
- Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration