Our Charitable Purpose

The Banchet Awards serve to highlight and call attention to the best in our hospitality community. Part of that is by raising money for efforts to improve the lives of people in our community.

This year, we are proud to announce that a portion of the proceeds from everything we do, including the annual Banchet Awards ceremony, will go to the Illinois efforts of Giving Kitchen, which seeks to aid hospitality communities nationwide. Giving Kitchen understands the challenges faced by food service workers in times of crisis. Their mission is to provide immediate financial aid, and connect individuals with vital community resources. 

Giving Kitchen was founded in Atlanta in 2013 to help a local chef who was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Ryan Hidinger. Since then it has grown into a nationwide organization that has distributed $15 million in financial assistance to 29,000 individuals. Its Chicago efforts were launched in early 2025, and in Illinois, Giving Kitchen has supported 44 clients who have been awarded $94,246, translating to an estimated 67 months of rent and utility assistance. 

As co-founder and spokesperson Jen Hidinger-Kendrick puts it, “Giving Kitchen is proud to help the food service workers of Illinois and we’re ready to offer stability to those who need us.” All funds provided by the Banchet Awards will be used in Illinois for the hospitality community here.

To learn more about Giving Kitchen, go here.

Our Charitable Purpose  

The Banchet Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to create a healthier, more sustainable, more equitable food system, and foster the next generation in the culinary arts through mentorship, education, and job training.

The Banchet Foundation is an Illinois nonprofit corporation and is applying to be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.