I’ve written here before about the Giving Kitchen, an organization out of Atlanta that has awarded more than $5 million in assistance to food service employees in crisis since being founded in 2013. Aimed specifically at the hospitality industry, Giving Kitchen has established what they call the Stability Network, a collection of resources that food workers might not know they have access to.
Now that they are up and running in Nashville with resident staff, they want to make sure that the industry is aware of the available resources through the organization. To introduce themselves to Middle Tennessee, Giving Kitchen representatives staged a series of events and meet-and-greets at several Nashville locations over the past week, including Bearded Iris, Chopper and an official launch event in Legislative Plaza on Monday, Sept. 27, where the state and city declared it Giving Kitchen Day.
Among the envoys from Giving Kitchen visiting Nashville were co-founder and senior director of community engagement Jen Hidinger-Kendrick as well as executive director Bryan Schroeder. Along with local volunteers, the Giving Kitchen staff handed out swag to attendees at the event and shared the available resources that the group is bringing to bear in Middle Tennessee.
Giving Kitchen representatives at Legislative Plaza
In a wonderful “passing of the torch” to the new aid organization, the Tennessee Action for Hospitality — a group that formed in response to the early days of the pandemic — presented a check with the remaining $68,000 of their A Fund for Us as a restricted gift from the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, who managed the fund. This donation will prime the pump for Giving Kitchen’s initial efforts in the region and the funds are earmarked to aid food service workers in crisis that are working in Tennessee and have been impacted by COVID-19. However, any food service worker in crisis — for any reason — should reach out for help from Giving Kitchen.
To finish up their introductory week, Giving Kitchen is sponsoring a Pop-Up Doc at the Avo parking lot in OneC1ty on Sunday, Oct. 3, from noon until 5 p.m. Because access to affordable health care is often a problem for hospitality professionals, Shade Tree Clinic and Complete Health Partners are teaming up with Giving Kitchen to provide food service workers free medical attention and health screenings as well as information about affordable services. The service is offered to the families of those workers as well, and flu, COVID-19 and Hepatitis A vaccinations will be available. Other services that will be available include help in making doctor appointments, insurance enrollment, information on pharmacy discounts, prenatal care and prescription assistance. In case workers need more incentive to get out and get checked, boxed lunches will also be dispersed onsite.
The best way to welcome this very important initiative to town is to help spread the word to your friends in the food service industry who might be able to take advantage of their many services, so tell anyone who you think might need some help.
