After some local experiments, we launched our first Karma Kitchen in Detroit in October (read more stories below). With so much interest from the community, we intend to host another one soon. To join, volunteer or to learn more, do drop us a note anytime.

First Karma Kitchen Launches at Pink Flamingo! (Sep 2015)

My heart is overflowing with gratitude and love as I reflect on our the first Karma Kitchen in Detroit -- and how its generosity touched so many of the Detroiters. Everyone not only accepted it whole heartedly, they reciprocated with loads of love and generosity!



In so many ways, Detriot is in its lowest period of many decades, but with collective blessings from around the globe (quite literally, many states of America, India, Canada, UK and more) we made a huge love impact in our local community!

Just two days before our pilot launch, someone anonymously sent us t-shirts with Karma Kitchen logo! At one point, we realized we didn't have any posters or sign boards. On Wednesday, three young girls from Albania walked in for our Awakin Circle, were touched the spirit of evening, heard the cross reference of Karma Kitchen and out of the blue, one of them asked, "Do you need posters made? My brother has a print shop!" Wow! Our need was heard. I was shocked and touched at the same time to receive this gift! To top it off, those three young girl signed-up to volunteer! (And boy, they were like angels -- some of us oldies really ended up needing the young blood to help us!) We didn't know much about social media, but Renee (who came to our Awakin Circle through Nimo) did all of our writing, printing and even created an Event on Facebook! :) She became our spokesperson. Similarly, Janet helped with dessert and decorations. With his restaurant business experience, Harry volunteered to anchor the kitchen. My ever supportive husband, Bharat, was a huge pillar. Meiko, founder of Pink Flamingo, supported us in every way. Renee's husband signed up to help at the wash station. Everyone just came together like that. It was almost as if a song of generosity was being played, and people just responded in perfect rhythm.



On the day of Karma Kitchen, the forecast for the evening was ... thunderstorm! :( Our was an outdoor event. :) But we still kept preparing and thinking positive. And guess what? Nature gifted us with most gorgeous, beautiful evening! Initially, we were thinking that 30-35 guests might come, but with the rain forecast, perhaps just half of them! Still we kept serving without attachment to the outcomes. Joy is in the giving, right? By 8:30PM, we had served 50 people!!!! Ammmmmazing response! We almost ran out of food!!

I personally had the honor of cooking some Indian food myself! I was remembering cooking with Harshida-ben in Santa Clara, and her open, positive, loving nature and passion to serve others -- and it helped me cook the best meal ever! The best compliment I heard was, "The food had an extra ingredient today, that made it so delicious. And that secret ingredient was LOVE!" Love was in the air.

Oh, and there was actually one other amazing thing.

As I was unloading the food from my car, a small pick up truck slowly inched towards us. Now, Pink Flamingo is in a rough neighborhood of Detroit, so I got a little nervous. But then, 3 young men got out of the truck -- with baskets and baskets of apples! It turned out that they saw a tree overloaded with apples, so they decided to pluck the apples and merrily give it away to people. Hearing their story, I was almost in tears. I asked them to join for dinner, and they did. It completed the full circle of giving. It was an incredibly heart warming moment.

Throughout the day, we answered questions on Karma Kitchen, shared about ServiceSpace, introduced Smile Cards and thanked everyone for the opportunity to serve. Guests were totally blown away as we handed them with $0.00 bill with hand-made ceramic key chain as a momento! :) It was a beautiful day. People hugged, many hung out till the end, many new connections were made over kindness, some wanted to volunteer next time, and practically everyone was awaiting the next Karma Kitchen!

Here are some photos from the day.

So much grace in accepting the gift and generously paying it forward with love. Thank you Detroit!! And thank you, all, for the encouragement to experiment in this way. I would've never imagined that we could've pulled this off in Detriot, but I probably should stop being surprised by the power of love to create miracles. :)  

--Nilam Chauhan