The Lasagna Lady

Forty-five-year-old Michelle Brenner, an Italian-American, similar to many of us, was unfortunately recently left off from her retail job at a menswear store, leaving her without work. At first, Michelle turned to comfort food (also, similar to many of us) to deal with the situation and did so by making a large pan of her grandmother’s special lasagna. It doesn’t sound so bad if you ask us! By rather than staying home all day feeling bad, she then decided to help some friends out by doing some grocery shopping for them with her extra free time she had on her hands. And after seeing their shopping lists, Michelle was completely shocked to see that nearly everyone was purchasing frozen lasagna. 

As someone who grew up always cooking and eating home-cooked meals, Michelle wasn’t willing to accept this and allow her friends to be eating at a standard that was far less than they deserved to be.  Michelle quickly came to the realization that she could make a real difference for some people in her neighborhood of Gig Harbor, Washington by making them some fresh, homemade lasagna to replace the frozen meals that had become accustomed to.  Michelle took it to Facebook to share the exciting news with those in the area – that she was actually going to be making this dreamy Italian dish for them upon request.  

And as if this wasn’t already incredibly generous enough, she didn’t charge a thing for these homemade lasagnas, using her $1,200 stimulus check from the government to buy all of the ingredients. Anyone that wants a lasagna just has to come pick it up from Michelle.  Her offer was first taken up by a friend who has been unemployed and a retired neighbor, and it didn’t take long at all for the word to get around town. For the past three months, Michelle has been making lasagnas filled with love full time and putting a smile on the faces of countless people (over 1,200 lasagnas to be exact!).  

Michelle will make lasagna for just about anyone, no questions asked, and of course, nothing in return asked either.  Michelle even started to drop off her homemade lasagnas to essential workers in the neighborhood such as hospital workers,

firefighters, and police officers and even made a special delivery to the local prison.  While things might seem difficult right now – it’s so important to focus on all the good that we have, and know that we can make a difference, even with the smallest of good deeds.