Finding Purpose in Our Everyday

Philanthropist Jen Hidinger-Kendrick knows the importance of receiving support in times of need. In December of 2012, Jen’s late husband, Chef Ryan Hidinger, received a devastating stage four cancer diagnosis. Ryan’s diagnosis was met with an incredibly powerful response from the Atlanta restaurant community, and an outpouring of love and financial assistance in order to lessen the financial burden of Ryan’s medical expenses. It was this community outreach and support that led to the creation of Giving Kitchen. Now in its eighth year of service, Giving Kitchen is dedicated to providing emergency aid to food service workers in crisis through referrals and financial assistance. We sat down with co-founder and Senior Director of Community Engagement, Jen, as she shared how the fight to save one life has turned into the fight to serve thousands.

How has Giving Kitchen’s core mission evolved over the last eight years?

“Giving Kitchen exists to provide assistance, hope and stability to food service workers in their time of need. We do this in a couple of different ways. Through our Stability Network program, we connect food service workers in crisis to social services that fit their specific needs, whether that may be mental and physical health support, access to food security or employment opportunities. When a food service worker is unable to work due to hardship, injury or illness, we also step in and provide financial assistance where needed to ensure their basic living expenses, rent or mortgage is paid.”

Can you share an experience that really drives home the impact this organization has had on the community?

“We’ve been able to serve over 7,500 food service workers to the tune of $4.7 million in financial aid. As of June 2021, we were able to provide our 3,000th financial assistance award and have been able to offer 4,500 Stability Network referrals. Out of the 7,500 plus individuals that we’ve served, we’ve learned that nearly half have at least one child at home and likely live in a house with several other family members. It’s not just the food service worker we’re stepping in to assist, oftentimes it’s the whole family.”

With COVID-19 impacting the food service industry so heavily, were there any new factors to consider?

“When COVID-19 first put a halt to the food service industry, we saw 20 times the volume of clients coming to Giving Kitchen and asking for help. We saw more website traffic in the first two weeks of the pandemic than we did the entire year of 2019. We also saw 55,000 new donations come to us throughout 2020, and close to 85% of those new donations were from first time contributors donating at $150 or less. You can just imagine the influx of individual giving that happened throughout the pandemic which was really new for our organization and quite remarkable to see.”

What makes the Atlanta food service industry such a close knit community?

“I really believe that Giving Kitchen was able to be birthed in this city because of how close the food service industry truly is. I don’t think Giving Kitchen could’ve started the way that it did in any other city. Atlanta is a big city, but there’s also a sensibility here. There’s a connection and pull to wanting to help one another that I saw very early on that I still see today. I think Atlanta just does community exceptionally well.”

As a community-focused homebuilder, Empire is a proud supporter of Giving Kitchen’s work in Atlanta and shares the same passion for bringing a vibrancy to the places we build through a love of food. “Supporting an organization like this affords us the ability to give back to an industry and people that make our city a great place to live,” says Caroline Simmel, SVP of Sales & Marketing at Empire Homes. Empire has been part of various events and campaigns as a corporate sponsor, including the Team Hidi event and Pinky Golf Tournament, plus more initiatives slated for 2022.

It’s as important as ever to support the small businesses in your community, so why not spend a day or two exploring the best spots? Check out our list of a few local businesses we think you’ll love.