On the opening day of Karma Kitchen Hayward, we had lots of beautiful experiences, stories, ripples & community connections. The volunteer spent the full day sending out unconditional love & respect to all. :)

After couple months of planning, we finally arrived at the launch of KK in the heart of the bay! It was a beautiful Sunday, a sunny day after a long week of stormy weather with lightning and thunder, and perhaps it was nature's way of expressing its joy for our humble beginnings.

Snappy's Cafe, where we host KK-Hayward, is a small warm cozy place in the downtown Hayward. As soon as we entered the cafe, we all rolled up our sleeves and got to work rearranging the table layout, setting up a gift table, write the menu on the board, and tending to the many small details. And we're very grateful to KK-Berkeley for their unconditional support, guidance, everything else. :)

We had a very natural flow of mostly local people in the cafe. Everyone who came in the doors yesterday were filled with positive energy; it almost felt like a marriage hall in India :) where everyone was excited about the new beginnings and making sure everyone felt at home! A teacher came in with her mom and aunt, and they were so blown away that they plan to come every month! She also wants to bring all her students to experience it! Several people expressed interest in volunteering. One person commented, "This was absolutely necessary in East Hayward, which doesn't have a good image due to many community challenges." Someone else felt like it was a historical event that "I simply couldn't miss!" The anonymous gifts on the gift table really touched a lot of people, and they all understood the pay-it-forward idea too to keep the inspiration rippling.

For this week, our menu was quite simple -- some tea, muffins and organic oranges that Prakash had generously gleaned from the neighborhood! Soon, we hope to augment it with other items that we can cook in a commercial kitchen nearby, but ultimately, when love is main entre, the rest of the food feels like a side dish. :)

By 5PM, we closed with a circle of sharing around our intention for the experiment, as everyone spoke about values like trust, intention, support, community, abundance, family, courage, impact -- and gratitude for the cafe for being open-minded enough to try out something as crazy as this! Initially employees were little hesitant to join the begining circle but by the end, we could clearly see the transformation that had already happened as they joined the closing circle with their smiles and gratitude.

It was such a beautiful feeling that we all walked out with. No words can quite capture that feeling -- but here's a photos that might help :) ...

Hope to see everyone next month at KK-Hayward!