• 60th Anniversary
  • News & Culture
    • Arts & Events
    • Great Reads
    • Atlanta After Dark
    • Atlanta 500
    • Groundbreakers
    • Women Making a Mark
  • Food & Drink
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • 50 Best Tacos
    • 123 Things to Eat on Buford Highway
    • 75 Best Restaurants in Atlanta
    • 50 Best Bars
    • Best Barbecue
    • Best Breakfast
  • Home
    • Artists & Galleries
    • Design Advice
    • Design News
    • Gardens
    • Real Estate
    • Neighborhoods
    • Real Estate All-Stars
    • Sponsored: Preferred HOME Partner
  • Life & Style
    • Style
    • School Guide
    • Health & Wellness
    • Top Doctors
    • Top Dentists
    • Sponsored: Physician & Dentist Profiles
    • Buckhead Guidebook
  • Travel
    • Southbound
    • 50 Best Things to Do in Georgia
    • Hidden Georgia
    • North Georgia Mountains
    • Great Georgia Hikes
    • Jekyll Island
    • Georgia Travel Guide
  • Best of ATL
    • Eat
    • Drink
    • See
    • Do
    • Buy
    • Readers’ Choice
  • Magazine
    • Subscription Center
    • Newsletters
    • Digital Editions
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Pitch Us
    • Advertise
    • Custom Media
    • Give Atlanta
    • Events
      • Upcoming Events
      • Past Events
        • 2020 Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Designer Showhouse
        • Atlanta Baby and Beyond
        • Atlanta Magazine Whiskey Festival 2019
        • DINES: A Taste of the City’s Best Restaurants
        • 2019 Modern Style Showhome
        • Best Burger Battle
        • Pinewood Forest Idea Home
        • 2018 Modern Style Showhouses
      • Event Photos
    • Employment
      • Careers
      • Internships
    • Archives
    • Where to Find
Sign in
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Create an account
Privacy and Cookies Policy
Sign up
Welcome!Register for an account
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Privacy and Cookies Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
Search
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletters
  • Issue Archive
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Atlanta 500
  • Give Atlanta
  • Georgia Design Awards 2022
  • Atlanta Summer Guide 2022
  • GaBiz Magazine
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Create an account
Privacy and Cookies Policy
Create an account
Welcome! Register for an account
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Privacy and Cookies Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Atlanta Magazine Atlanta Magazine
Atlanta Magazine Atlanta Magazine
  • 60th Anniversary
  • News & Culture
    • Arts & Events
    • Great Reads
    • Atlanta After Dark
    • Atlanta 500
    • Groundbreakers
    • Women Making a Mark
  • Food & Drink
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • 50 Best Tacos
    • 123 Things to Eat on Buford Highway
    • 75 Best Restaurants in Atlanta
    • 50 Best Bars
    • Best Barbecue
    • Best Breakfast
  • Home
    • Artists & Galleries
    • Design Advice
    • Design News
    • Gardens
    • Real Estate
    • Neighborhoods
    • Real Estate All-Stars
    • Sponsored: Preferred HOME Partner
  • Life & Style
    • Style
    • School Guide
    • Health & Wellness
    • Top Doctors
    • Top Dentists
    • Sponsored: Physician & Dentist Profiles
    • Buckhead Guidebook
  • Travel
    • Southbound
    • 50 Best Things to Do in Georgia
    • Hidden Georgia
    • North Georgia Mountains
    • Great Georgia Hikes
    • Jekyll Island
    • Georgia Travel Guide
  • Best of ATL
    • Eat
    • Drink
    • See
    • Do
    • Buy
    • Readers’ Choice
  • Magazine
    • Subscription Center
    • Newsletters
    • Digital Editions
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Pitch Us
    • Advertise
    • Custom Media
    • Give Atlanta
    • Events
      • Upcoming Events
      • Past Events
        • 2020 Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Designer Showhouse
        • Atlanta Baby and Beyond
        • Atlanta Magazine Whiskey Festival 2019
        • DINES: A Taste of the City’s Best Restaurants
        • 2019 Modern Style Showhome
        • Best Burger Battle
        • Pinewood Forest Idea Home
        • 2018 Modern Style Showhouses
      • Event Photos
    • Employment
      • Careers
      • Internships
    • Archives
    • Where to Find
Home Women Making A Mark Jennifer Hidinger
Custom Publication

Jennifer Hidinger

She’s giving back to the restaurant industry that gave so much to her.
By
Wendell Brock
-
June 2, 2016
1160

032916_2D6A0116_edit_RTWhen Jennifer Hidinger’s husband, Ryan, was diagnosed with stage-four gallbladder cancer in 2012, she could have retreated to a place of darkness, fear, and hospital bills. The couple, who met in 2000, had dreams of opening a restaurant to showcase Ryan’s talents as a chef. Once she recovered from her shock, Jennifer was resolute: For Ryan’s sake, their dreams would survive.

Friends and colleagues cooked up a benefit dinner called Team Hidi, which raised more than $275,000 to help the couple with medical bills and other expenses. Deeply moved, the Hidingers decided to form a nonprofit, The Giving Kitchen, that would assist other metro Atlanta restaurant workers in crisis. Their future restaurant would serve as one of the nonprofit’s revenue streams.

To date, The Giving Kitchen has granted $650,000 to nearly 400 industry people in need. And though Ryan died in 2014, Staplehouse restaurant opened to critical acclaim in September 2015 and was a finalist for the 2016 James Beard Foundation Award for Best New Restaurant in America.

These days, Jennifer—who has a degree in broadcast communication from Indiana University and worked in advertising and retail before starting The Giving Kitchen—divides her time between managing the restaurant and acting as spokesperson for the philanthropy. One thing the thirty-four-year-old always tells people is that it’s okay to let go of your pride and accept assistance. She believes her husband’s decision to go public with his struggle was “like medicine,” because it allowed him to keep his dream alive. It also inspired the couple to repay kindness with kindness. “There was so much done for us,” she says. “It was all about paying it forward.”

Advertisement
  • TAGS
  • Women Making A Mark 2016
Wendell Brock

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Custom Publication

Meisa Salaita

Custom Publication

Phyllis Sumner

Custom Publication

Linda Galipeau

Follow Us

67,614FansLike
126,739FollowersFollow
493,957FollowersFollow
Atlanta Magazine
Since 1961, Atlanta magazine, the city’s premier general interest publication, has served as the authority on Atlanta, providing its readers with a mix of long-form nonfiction, lively lifestyle coverage, in-depth service journalism, and literary essays, columns, and profiles.

Popular posts

30,000-square-foot “eatertainment” venue Your 3rd Spot to open at the Works

March 14, 2022
Sponsored

3 Tarot Card Reading Services To Discover Your Destiny & Purpose

August 20, 2021
What to get at Buc-ee's in Georgia

10 Things You Shouldn’t Miss at Buc-ee’s

September 3, 2021

GREAT READS

Unhoused Atlanta

As Atlanta continues to grow, unhoused people are finding a new voice—and new allies

April 12, 2022
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens

The New Mayor: Andre Dickens comes to the job calculating and confident

April 1, 2022
Atlanta Asian Spa Shooting One Year Anniversary

One year later, 7 Asian American community members reflect on the Atlanta spa shootings

March 16, 2022
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletters
  • Issue Archive
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Business Forum
  • Privacy and Cookies Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • General Contest Rules
© 2022. All rights reserved.