EMBRACING THE WORLD
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Tampa Bay Mother’s Kitchen
St. Petersburg UU Church offered weekly “Community Picnic” for which we cooked twice a month servicing 200+ lower income families and people without permanent residences. We did this from 2009 when we were approved by Amma to offer a Karma Kitchen – A Mother’s Kitchen Project until 2013. Then we moved to the Ronald McDonald House West in St Petersburg to prepare and serve a meal to 25 residents of the RMH while their children were being treated at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
“The guests at the Mother’s Kitchen in St. Petersburg, Florida not only enjoyed plenty of delicious food, much of it homemade, but a monthly birthday celebration. Any guest that had a birthday in the month we were serving received a celebratory cupcake which was usually made and decorated by the satsang children. The guests and servers would sing a rousing version of “Happy Birthday” as we delivered the candle lit cupcakes. There were always tears, as many of the guests had not been celebrated on their birthdays in a very long time or ever. We distributed the extra cupcakes and desserts to the guests and the atmosphere quickly shifted to a fun birthday party celebration. “We accompanied the cupcakes with coffee service. Most soup kitchens have coffee available but they don’t actually serve the coffee to the guests. One mother took the opportunity and ingenuity to make our guests feel a little more special by bringing them coffee, sugar and cream. She poured the coffee while her children offered a basket of creamers and sugar. They were always met with huge smiles of gratitude by the guests. It seems like such a simple act, serving another coffee, but what we were really pouring was kindness and compassion. They would soften and linger a little longer around the picnic tables. Because of their needs, we were able to experience the gift of seva, connect to our local citizens and live in the light of Mother’s teachings. No matter how hard or rough our day seemed, whenever we had the opportunity to serve, we always walked away with a smile on our face wondering, who was serving who?” ~ shared by Ashanka Kanada, Tampa Bay Satsang Coordinator
In addition, Vandana Dillon (above) has had a Volunteer Yoga Program at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, offering Yoga and Amma’s Youth IAM to the patients in their rooms weekly. The overlap between the Ronald McDonald house meal seva and her yoga and meditation students has made it a beautiful pairing. Although the Yoga Program went on hiatus in 2018 (started in 2011) our Karma Kitchen has continued (with the exception of when everything was shut down during the pandemic). Cathy Devanney (far right, in top picture) is the Organizer of the Lead Chefs who choose the meal, shop and lead the cooking with the Karma Kitchen Sevites. Tampa Bay Mother’s Kitchen is a beautiful Seva that everyone enjoys very much.
“Our group of volunteers loves cooking dinner for the families with children at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.” ~ Cathy Devanney “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr. “The Tampa Bay Amma Satsang and its many volunteers appreciate the opportunity to Love and Serve through Karma Kitchen. In keeping with Amma’s wish that ‘Everyone should eat to their fill, if just for one day.'”
In 1996, people inspired by Amma’s teachings about serving the poor asked her if they should find a place with a real need and try to help. When Amma said yes, they found a small soup kitchen in west Oakland serving free meals every weekday while operating on a shoestring budget. Mother’s Kitchen began serving hot meals there twice a month, soon adding bagged lunches too. Very soon, Mother’s Kitchens began popping up all over the map, first in Dallas and Seattle, then Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, and we are now at 50 plus in the United States, Canada and Central America, serving over 150,000 meals annually. Our bi-monthly Newsletter will highlight the wide variety of Mother’s Kitchens across the country. Join us to make a difference. Find out more about the MK closest to you here>>. Serving the Hungry . Helping the Homeless . Spreading Amma’s Love .
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