"Started a decade ago with the mission of providing financial support and other critical-need services to restaurant and hospitality workers in crisis, Giving Kitchen has helped nearly 13,000 people with financial assistance, health clinics, mental-health programs, and eviction-avoidance services; it aims to serve an additional 5,000 workers in 2023 and to double that number in 2024 as it expands in Georgia and the Southeast. Honored as the James Beard Foundation's 2019 Humanitarian of the Year, the nonprofit traces its origin to a benefit organized for co-founder Jen Hidinger-Kendrick's late husband, chef Ryan Hidinger, whose 2014 battle with gallbladder cancer and the subsequent community benefit that raised over $300,000 inspired the request that those funds be used to 'help others like me.' Between the annual Team Hidi benefits, individual and corporate donations, and other community events, Giving Kitchen has awarded more than $9 million in financial aid over the last decade." - Beth McKibben