The Atlanta Braves Foundation Honors Giving Kitchen
A representative from The Atlanta Braves Foundation shares why Giving Kitchen and its founder, Jen Hidinger-Kendrick, were awarded the Braves Community Hero Award:
Giving Kitchen founder Jen Hidinger-Kendrick at an Atlanta Braves event
The Atlanta Braves Foundation has diverse community outreach programs, and as part of our Community Heroes Week, we ask our fans throughout the Southeast to nominate an individual or organization who does wonderful things in our community. That’s when we heard about Jen Hidinger-Kendrick and Giving Kitchen - when someone nominated them in 2017. We were blown away by the incredible work they do for those in the food and beverage industry, and Jen’s story, spirit, kindness and love were overwhelming.
Jen and GK deserved a shining spotlight as a Braves Community Hero. In the midst of their worst time, she and her husband created an amazing organization to make sure no one in their industry would have to worry about financial setbacks caused by unforeseen hardships.
The Atlanta Braves Foundation has fans in every walk of life, so we try to help as many as we can – including all the chefs, servers, bartenders and everyone else who make their living at one of The Battery Atlanta restaurants, who are part of our bigger family. Food service workers have such a tight-knit community, which is very similar to a sports team. When a player goes down, another player steps in to keep that team going. Helping Giving Kitchen is the same concept – help raise money and awareness so that workers who come upon tough times will have someone to lean on until they are back on their feet.
Everyone goes out to eat at restaurants. Some folks go out once in a while, and some go out every night of the week. Take a look around you next time you are in a restaurant, and look at the hard work the staff are doing. For some it may be their second or third job - for others it’s their passion, their mission. If you frequent the same restaurants as regulars and know the staff as your friends, what would you do if something happened to one of them?