Mandatory Good News: Furloughed Worker Becomes ‘Lasagna Lady,’ Feeds Hundreds For Free

What would you do if you were furloughed? For many of us, a coronavirus-inspired hiatus from work would inspire us to take up residence on the couch, eat ice cream at every meal, watch everything on Netflix, and stay in our pajamas until they fell apart.

But that’s just us. Luckily, there are better people in the world, people like Michelle Brenner in Gig Harbor, Washington. When the menswear store where she worked furloughed her because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she didn’t turn into a sloth. Instead, she transformed into “Lasagna Lady,” which is just the kind of real-life superhero the world needs right now.

Brenner didn’t plan to become a homemade lasagna machine. She actually started working for Instacart, which is when she noticed how many customers ordered frozen lasagna. One of her customers was a man in his 90s who lamented that he hadn’t eaten any fresh food in over a month. That was the last straw for Brenner. Armed with her grandmother’s recipe, she prepared a lasagna from scratch and posted a pic on Facebook – but not to brag. Instead, she offered to make and deliver a pan of the Italian specialty for anyone who wanted one – free of charge.

Over 1,275 lasagnas and 90 days later, Brenner is still cooking her heart out. She works eight to 14 hours a day preparing her cheesy, meaty masterpieces for those in need. Though she initially funded this venture with her stimulus check, the community has since stepped in with donations so she can keep feeding people.

Brenner told CNN that this experience has been “a dream come true.” “People say, ‘Are you tired?’ and I go, ‘You know, I don’t have time to think about that, I have lasagna to make.’”

Cover Photo: monkeybusinessimages (Getty Images)

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