Karma Kitchen is an experiment in paying kindness forward, through sharing and fostering a
community and gift economy while enjoying a vegetarian Indian meal served by volunteers.
KK was created in Berkeley with the vision:
“Run by volunteers, our meals are cooked and served with love, and offered to the guest as a genuine gift. To complete the full circle of giving and sustain this experiment, guests make contributions in the spirit of pay-it-forward to those who will come after them. In keeping this chain going, the generosity of both guests and volunteers helps to create a future that moves from transaction to trust, from self-oriented isolation to shared commitment, and from fear of scarcity to celebration of abundance.”
Karma Kitchen describes a gift economy as “an economic system where it is the circulation of the gifts within the community that leads to increase — increase in connections, increase in relationship strength; in this context, hoarding actually decreases wealth. At its core, gift-economy is a shift from consumption to contribution, transaction to trust, scarcity to abundance, and isolation to community.”
Karma Kitchen was brought to DC by a dedicated group of volunteers who coordinate this special expression of community each Sunday at Polo India Club at 1736 Connecticut Avenue in Dupont Circle from 12-3 pm.
http://www.karmakitchen.org/index.php?pg=loc_dc
JETAA DC will send a small group to volunteer at Karma Kitchen on Sunday, July 18, 2010 from 11 am to 4 pm. Please rsvp to diarychan at yahoo.com to reserve your spot. Volunteer activities will be assigned at orientation. They include serving tables, washing dishes, host/hostess, plating the food, drinks and floating positions helping out wherever needed.
If you are unable to join the team, please support this positive initiative by attending Karma Kitchen as a diner on an upcoming Sunday afternoon. If you have any questions, please contact me.
Nikki Lindsay
Volunteer Chair