Raising Funds, Helping Each Other

Giving Kitchen’s month-long campaign Dining With Gratitude supports restaurant workers in need.
By Haley Harward

The restaurant industry is a vibrant and dynamic community that brings people together through the love of food. However, the industry is not without its challenges, and when a crisis strikes, it can be devastating for foodservice workers and their families.

That’s why Giving Kitchen (GK) is such a beacon of hope and support for those in need, providing emergency assistance to foodservice workers through financial support and referrals to community resources.

GK holds various events throughout the year to raise money and awareness, like Team Hidi in Atlanta and golf tournaments in Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. GK also provides foodservice workers access to free medical resources and services through events like Pop-Up Doc and their mental health campaign, Mind Matters.

Each year, there’s also Dining With Gratitude, a national month-long campaign in October during which participating restaurants nationwide, with most concentrated in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, commit to a minimum donation of $1,000 to support GK’s mission.

“Dining With Gratitude gives restaurants an opportunity to talk about Giving Kitchen every single day, both among foodservice employees and the general public who come in to dine,” says Giving Kitchen Founder Jen Hidinger-Kendrick. “It’s an awareness campaign as much as it is a fundraiser. We often say to people that the best thing they can do for Giving Kitchen is to talk about us – Dining With Gratitude is a way to do that.”

The money raised supports all of GK’s programs, including Stability Network, Financial Assistance, QPR Suicide Prevention Training, Pop-Up Doc and Mind Matters, among other awareness and support initiatives.

Restaurants can raise the amount in whatever way they see fit, whether that’s asking customers for donations, writing a check for the money outright or donating a portion of sales.

“We do it slightly differently at different concepts,” says Meherwan Irani, executive chef, CEO and founder of Chai Pani Restaurant Group, which has locations in Georgia and North Carolina. “We’ll create a special menu or special cocktails and say a percentage of sales goes to [Giving Kitchen]. Or we’ll do a Dining With Gratitude week or month where on every table is a little flyer saying that this is what we’re doing, and if anybody is so inclined to help please talk to your server. And we have a little envelope in which they can donate money or use an app to give a credit card donation directly to Giving Kitchen.”

Chef Irani and his concepts, including Botiwalla, Chai Pani, Spicewalla and Buxton Hall Barbecue, have been involved with GK since opening Chai Pani in Decatur back in 2013. Gustavo Baez, chef de cuisine at Bottiwalla in Charlotte, N.C., has been with the restaurant group since its inception, and he’s seen firsthand how GK and its events like Dining with Gratitude have supported those working in the foodservice industry.

“In my experience, I see Giving Kitchen help a lot of my co-workers, like prevent suicide or help pay the bills when they have some accidents,” says Baez. “And, Giving Kitchen helped me.”

After contracting COVID-19 during the pandemic, Baez knew he could rely on Giving Kitchen for help. With just his phone, Baez was able to access the organization’s proactive assistance needed to alleviate the stress – both mental and financial – of not being able to work during such a trying period.

“I called them, and they helped me to talk to somebody in Spanish, which is much easier for me,” Baez says. “She provided me all the information I needed to send, the proofs and all of the paperwork. So it’s very simple.”

Aside from raising funds, Dining with Gratitude’s goal is to raise awareness about Giving Kitchen’s mission and services.

“Most organizations do a lot of outreach around fundraising and trying to raise money,” says Chef Irani. “Instead [Giving Kitchen] focuses their outreach on making sure that restaurateurs and industry workers and folks working in restaurants in every city they’re in know that they exist because they want to be used.”

Whether it is cards the restaurants can hand out, posters to hang in the windows, messaging to send throughout company communication systems, or hosting events for restaurant staff to meet the GK staff, the non-profit makes their message readily available for restaurateurs to spread.

In addition to the resources provided by Giving Kitchen, restaurant workers themselves can play a crucial role in spreading the word. Baez tells all his co-workers in the kitchen about GK, walking them through the app and the number to call should they ever need help. And whenever Chef Irani runs into a restaurateur or someone in the industry that’s talking about struggles among their staff and colleagues, it’s second nature for him to mention Giving Kitchen.

“Within our industry, historically there just haven’t been a lot of resources that traditional industries may have access to,” Irani says. “But in the last 5, 6, 7 years, that’s really changed a lot and, honestly, I would credit an organization like Giving Kitchen, making it ok to talk about mental health, burnout or financial issues. They’ve spread the word well, they made it ok to talk about it, and most importantly, they provide resources.”

Giving Kitchen’s Dining With Gratitude campaign will take place in October 2023. If your restaurant would like to participate, contact Leah Melnick at leah@thegivingkitchen.org. For Dining With Gratitude updates, go to thegivingkitchen.org/dwg or follow Giving Kitchen on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and more @givingkitchen.