After a serious, life-changing event, people have a choice to either wallow in self-pity, or channel their grief into something bigger than themselves.
Here are three stories about those who chose to rise above the suffering.
Giving Kitchen
The concept for Giving Kitchen 13 years ago was born out of a sudden, tragic diagnosis.
Chef Ryan “Hidi” Hidinger, who had worked for decades in the food industry, found out he had Stage 4 terminal cancer in December of 2012.
“He and I concentrated on his medical journey and what was in front of him,” said his wife, Jen Hidinger-Kendrick, one of the organization’s co-founders. “And in turn, it was his bosses and mentors and our community who stepped up.”
The idea for Giving Kitchen came shortly after Hidinger’s terminal diagnosis while the couple was in their living room on a conference call brainstorming the idea with a group of close friends, several of whom were in the food service industry as chefs and owners.
The founders included restaurant owners Ryan Turner, Chris Hall, Mike Gallagher and hospitality-focused attorney Michelle Stumpe.
“All the founders were ideating on what Giving Kitchen would be and who it would serve,” she said. “And I remember my late husband, when it got to him, he said, ‘All I know is that I want this to be for everyone.’ And he stopped. And since then, we have carried this as our North Star forward – turning what happened to him for everyone in food service.”
In the 13 years since Giving Kitchen was founded, it has expanded its reach from serving 13 counties in the Atlanta area to the entire nation. In late October, the organization awarded its $18 millionth dollar to a Georgia line cook with two young children who suffered a collapsed lung and was unable to work.
“Food service work is America’s second largest employer and one of its lowest paying,” Hidinger-Kendrick said. “The workers holding it together are one bad day from financial collapse. With nearly half of GK’s clients raising children on food service wages that fall below a livable income, one crisis doesn’t just threaten a worker – it threatens an entire household.”
In 2026 alone, Giving Kitchen has provided $1.2 million to more than 1,100 food service workers and referred nearly 3,000 more to desperately needed resources.
“No one ever wants to lose someone or be met with a catastrophic diagnosis, but I will say there can be light at the end, and that’s what Giving Kitchen feels like for now for over 42,000 households,” Hidinger-Kendrick said. “It feels like light and hope, and I think that’s what gets us motivated every single day.”
American Legion #207
Long before Tucker’s American Legion #207 was destroyed in an electrical fire in 2019, the organization was on life support.
It had lost its identity as a place to support veterans and their families, and operated more like a place where anyone in the community could stop by for a drink, according to Scott Brady, who spearheaded a campaign to revitalize the headquarters.
Brady, a Marine veteran, said he became aware of the fire and the #207’s struggles to rebuild. He contacted the legion’s commander Anthony Mathis, a fellow Marine, but by that time, Mathis said he was in discussions to sell the land and walk away.
“I had about two months to raise more than $200,000 [to pay for work that had already been completed],” Brady said in an earlier interview with Rough Draft. “That was just to get us off life support.”
After that was accomplished, albeit in four months rather than two, Brady turned his attention to the next hurdle. While he wanted to get the physical plant rebuilt, he envisioned a loftier goal – to create a community that embraced the veterans, their families and gave back to others.
Four years later, with the help of individual and corporate donors like Home Depot, the grassroots effort has reached its goal, thanks to a recent $150,000 anonymous donation from an Army veteran with ties to the Tucker area.
The soon-to-be completed 5,500 square-foot facility still has miles to go before it can be fully functioning, but the foundation and the support of the community is there, Brady said.
“One of my favorite quotes is that the ‘hard is the good,’ and the fact that we have had to go through all these tumultuous times and the difficulty is going to make it that much sweeter when we are finally open.”
Brady said he is also bolstered by the support of the area veterans during the process. Membership has grown to more than 100, compared to about 22 when he started the rebuilding campaign.
Lotus Disability
