After her husband, Ryan, lost his battle with cancer in 2014, Jen Hidinger set out to fulfill the couple’s dream of opening a restaurant. That’s the story behind Staplehouse, a trendy nook in Atlanta’s eclectic Old Fourth Ward. As NBC Nightly News reports, dining at Staplehouse is about much more than the carefully curated menu.
Staplehouse is a for-profit subsidiary of The Giving Kitchen, a non-profit founded by Hidinger after an overwhelming response from the community that surrounded her and her husband. The organization funds emergency grants for local restaurant workers facing unexpected hardship. All of the after-tax profits generated by Staplehouse go toward The Giving Kitchen’s work.
From her family’s personal struggle, Hidinger has found a meaningful way to do good in the local Atlanta community. Staplehouse is booked solid night after night, as reservations are hard to come by. Hopefully, the restaurant’s success will mean that financial hardship among the city’s restaurant workers is also hard to come by.
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Read more about community support, Georgia, Indie Acts of Kindness.