Kitchen Project

We are very excited to be part of Halifax City’s District 7 Participatory Budgeting Process, and putting forward a project to raise money to renovate our kitchen. As the Sakyong has stressed, our centres need to focus on Food, Conversation, and Meditation, and here is a great way to improve our ability to do this!

1084 Tower Road has been the home of the Halifax Shambhala Center since 1985. Open to all regardless of age, race, or religion, the Halifax Shambhala Centre is home to a vibrant, diverse community of members and friends. We host a variety of offerings based on meditation, mindfulness, and contemplative arts. We aspire to inspire Nova Scotians of all traditions to discover their inherent clarity, gentleness, humor, dignity, and goodness. We offer all of this, including a weekly meal for the public (usually attended by about 50 friends, university students, and people brand new to the centre). All of our food offerings have been squeezed out of a very small, residential sized, kitchen. Groups using the space have often chosen not to include a food part of their event because the kitchen is not large enough. They bring in caterers or rent dishes because the dishwasher does not have the capacity for their event and the space is too restricted.

If we are successful in obtaining this grant to improve and expand our kitchen facilities by redesigning the kitchen layout, purchasing a new fridge and stove, and creating more usable food preparation space, it will help increase our capacity to serve as a community hub. We will also use the funds to purchase an industrial dishwasher which will go a long way in enabling us to wash and sanitize large amounts of dishes quickly without relying on disposable dishes that are not good for our environment. By expanding and enhancing our current space it will be more attractive to groups looking for space to hold workshops, and will therefore increase community building and relationships with other groups and organizations.

If you live in District 7 (check the map below), you are invited to come out and vote on April 16th from 6-9pm at the Architecture and Planning Building, Dalhousie University, 5410 Spring Garden Road, across the street from the library. Come learn about many exciting initiatives in your community and enjoy the opportunity to be an active part of deciding where the funds go. Everyone is asked to vote for five projects and we hope ours will be one of them. Bring your family and friends–kids can vote too!