The Giving Kitchen

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The intent of The Giving Kitchen is to be the beyond-expectation resource at times of unanticipated crisis for anyone employed in the Atlanta restaurant community.
Peace of mind that we are a stronger, beloved community is the outcome we hope to create.
The Giving Kitchen grew out of a beyond-expectation response to the devastating, stage-four cancer diagnosis of Atlanta Chef Ryan Hidinger in December 2012. Ryan was well known in the Atlanta restaurant community for his work at Bacchanalia, Floataway Café, and Muss & Turner’s. And he and his wife, Jen, were beloved for the supper club called Staplehouse that they had been running for several years, as a build-up to starting their dream restaurant.
The response to Ryan’s diagnosis — initially from friends within the restaurant industry, and then quickly from an ever-expanding community across Atlanta — was an outpouring of love and financial support that would help with expenses not covered by insurance.
Jen has said that the outpouring gave Ryan a peace of mind that she believes extended his life by at least six months. The community’s beyond-expectation response to the Hidinger’s crisis moment set the intent, beliefs and values of The Giving Kitchen.
The Giving Kitchen was formed as a 501(c)(3) to fill the need for a crisis grant program in the restaurant community — as a way to do for others what the community came together to do for Ryan and Jen Hidinger.
The organization provides emergency assistance grants to cover basic living expenses, care-related travel expenses, and funeral expenses for those who meet defined criteria.
To help ensure its own sustainability, The Giving Kitchen has a unique hybrid structure as a nonprofit with a for-profit subsidiary. The for-profit subsidiary is Staplehouse — a casual fine-dining restaurant located in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward. 100% of Staplehouse’s net profits will be channeled back to its nonprofit parent, as an ongoing stream of support.
What this means is that The Giving Kitchen has four strong sources of support:
++ Restaurants and their employees
++ Extended restaurant industry
++ Restaurant patrons
++ Staplehouse, a high-profile restaurant owned as a subsidiary