A beautiful story on NBC, about Karma Kitchen DC on November 7! Go Krishna! Some excerpts below ...



Krishna Desar explained that the program aims to move people from transaction to trust, scarcity to abundance, and isolation to community.

To encourage the transition toward building a community, guests are given the option to either sit at a larger community table where they can interact with others or take a seat at one of the personal tables.

“We’re so hungry to connect to each other,” 50-year-old Kristin Pedemonti, a volunteer coordinator at Karma Kitchen D.C., said. “In a place like D.C. where there’s often so much power-hungry energy — this is just the opposite of that.”

For Jess Anderson, 23, and Leo Guillemin, 27, who often go to the Himalayan Heritage restaurant, it was both surprising and exciting to be welcomed by Karma Kitchen volunteers on a cold Sunday afternoon last month that NBC News attended. They decided to try the meal and called it a “great concept.”

“It’s so good to know we’re able to have this meal because someone was generous,” said Guillemin. “I feel more camaraderie today than usual.”

Anderson agreed and added that it made her think about the little acts of kindness she could do everyday. “It does make me think, I go to coffee shops all the time and I can buy someone coffee there,” she said. “Now as we’re getting into winter time, you need to do something nice to keep yourself warm inside.” [...]

“No matter what’s going on in the world at the time, Karma Kitchen seems to be a constant in terms of the values it tries to bring out,” said Vinay Sanapala, who has been volunteering at Karma Kitchen D.C. since it started in 2009. Sanapala added that every time he goes back, “it feels like it’s a wonderful reset for me.” [...]



“People here feel very isolated,” Desar said, adding that everyone is looking for what they don’t have. “This is a space where people can stop and think about small things that can make us happy.”