What we do
What the Gurdwara actually does, week in and week out, for the people of Winnipeg.
- A registered Canadian charity since 1986
- Everything we do is free, for anyone
- Run entirely by community volunteers
Everything listed here is free. Nothing is means tested, and nobody is asked about their faith, their background or their status in Canada. All of it is delivered by volunteers.
The free community kitchen
The langar is the heart of the Gurdwara. It is a free vegetarian meal, cooked and served on site, open to anyone who comes through the door. People sit together on the same floor and eat the same food, which is the point of it.
The meal is vegetarian so that nobody's diet or belief keeps them from eating with us. Anyone can come and eat. Anyone can come and help cook, serve or wash up.
Blood donation camps
We organise blood donation drives and bring members of the community out to give. Giving blood costs the donor nothing and it is one of the most direct ways a community can look after the city around it.
Food drives for families going without
We collect food and hand it out to families in Winnipeg who are struggling. The need is real and it does not stop at the end of winter. Donations of food and the hands to sort and deliver it both come from the community.
Summer camps and weekend programs for children
Children growing up in Canada are at risk of losing the language, the music and the history their parents brought with them. Our camps and weekend classes exist so that does not happen. The children learn about the Sikh faith, work on Punjabi, and take part in kirtan, which is devotional music.
Just as importantly they spend time with other children like them and meet adults who take an interest in how they are getting on.
Group activities for seniors
Older members of the community can find themselves at home alone all day, often in a country where they do not speak the main language. Our seniors' activities give them somewhere to be, people to talk to, and a reason to leave the house. For many of them the Gurdwara is their social life.
Settlement support for newcomers to Canada
Families arriving from overseas land in a city where they do not know how anything works. We help with the practical side of settling in and we point people to the services that exist for them. Often the most valuable part is simply knowing somebody, in their own language, who has done it before.
Worship and religious services
As a Gurdwara, Dashmesh Darbar is first of all a place of worship. Sikh religious services are held here, along with kirtan, and the Gurdwara marks the Sikh calendar through the year.
Visitors of any faith are welcome to attend and to sit quietly and listen. Nobody will ask anything of you.
