BALTIMORE — In a small kitchen in Federal Hill, Zoe Feldman is making a big difference. The bowls are almost bigger than she is, and so is the industrial-sized pot she uses to create her signature sauce.
Feldman volunteers with Lasagna Love, an organization dedicated to making and delivering home-cooked meals to neighbors in need. Their mission is simple: spread kindness, one pan of lasagna at a time.
"So this is the star of the show, which is my sauce. Oh it's very heavy and I'm not tall. Yeah, I have to sit on my tippy toes to reach," Feldman said.
Zoe Feldman is spreading kindness with some good chef work
The New York transplant has been with Lasagna Love for two years. During my recent visit, she put her 800th pan in the oven.
"I realized very early on when I started volunteering that in many ways it's actually easier to do this and make 20 at a time or 10 at a time than it is just to make one. And why bulk batching makes sense is because in the city of Baltimore there's a lot of need and there are not nearly enough volunteers to meet the need," Feldman said.
Feldman's process is down to a science. Sundays are for sauce prep, Mondays for assembly. Each eight-pound lasagna feeds a whole family for multiple meals.
Feldman's wife, Mara Black, says they rarely eat lasagna themselves unless Feldman isn't satisfied with a batch.
"It's a wonderful cause, and no one can make Zoe's lasagnas like she does. They're absolutely delicious, and then I mean, just the number that she has been able to do and the number of people she's been able to serve is really remarkable, but my wife doesn't do anything partway," Black said.
The day I visited, Feldman made 10 pans, all out of her own pocket with some donations from friends. She delivers all across Baltimore, often to neighborhoods other volunteers won't go in.
"I believe it is a basic fundamental right, not a privilege to be able to have food. It's saying if you're hungry I'll bring you a lasagna, no questions asked. Circumstances are irrelevant to me. Just happy to be able to help," Feldman said.
Lasagna Love has a waiting list of people needing meals, so they need more neighbors like Feldman to help out. If you'd like to volunteer, go here.
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