Rainbow Kitchen provides an opportunity for low income and marginalized people to come not only for physical nourishment but also to meet other needs such as social, spiritual and perhaps simply something to look forward to in their day.  The people who come to Rainbow Kitchen have a variety of needs and a range of personal circumstances.  Volunteers are encouraged to sit and eat with the guests, to learn about their lives, to understand their struggles without judgement and to learn their names and greet them as friends each week.

Rainbow Kitchen also provides an opportunity for volunteers to learn from the guests about the issues they face on a daily basis.  This allows volunteers to be more informed about the larger social issues and become involved in advocacy for change if they so choose.   But more importantly, the Victoria Rainbow Kitchen Society educates all volunteers about what is meant by ‘helping’.   Perhaps the biggest need of the guests at the Rainbow Kitchen is for understanding and compassion and this only comes from spending time with individual guests and being interested in their lives.  The meal becomes the avenue for understanding and compassion and the result is that the lives of volunteers and the lives of the guests are enriched.  It is a time which changes our concept of helping.  No longer is it simply a situation where some, who have so much, are giving to those who have so little; the experience of helping changes  to a genuine human experience where all people benefit. Both volunteers and guests are able to learn from this experience and apply it to other aspects of their lives.

The Rainbow Kitchen is always happy to hear from anyone out there that is interested in volunteering for our worthy cause.

We run every week day cooking various meals, collecting the ingredients, sourcing more via the generosity of businesses in Victoria BC. If you have a few hours to spare each week we could use your help in the following areas:

• Cooking
• Serving
• Cleaning
• Fund Raising
• Produce Sourcing
• Produce Collection

You will need to fill out a volunteer information form which you can download here.