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Nov 2009  |  By Mibs  |  Comments

District 39 Educational Foundation Honors Charlie Trotter

Charlie Trotter, the 2009 recipient of District 39 Educational Foundation’s Distinguished Citizen Award, stunned and delighted the community with an unexpected donation, announced at the event on November 10, 2009.

Previous Distinguished Citizen Award winners Roger and Gina Myerson with this year's recipient Chef Charlie Trotter

Over 100 District 39 community members were in attendance at Michigan Shores Club on November 10, 2009 to honor and celebrate Chef Charlie Trotter, a truly distinguished alum of the Wilmette schools. Chef Trotter, a completely self-taught chef, has been the chef/owner of Charlie Trotter’s restaurant for nearly 22 years.  Regarded as one of the finest restaurants in the world, it has been recognized by many prestigious national and international institutions.

Chef Trotter is also a prolific author, having penned 14 cookbooks and three management books.  He is also the host of the nationally-aired, award-winning PBS cooking series, The Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter. In addition to Charlie Trotter’s, he also owns and operates Restaurant Charlie and Bar Charlie in the Palazzo Hotel, Casino & Resort in Las Vegas, and Trotter’s To Go gourmet retail shop in Chicago.

District 39 Superintendent Dr. Raymond Lechner and Foundation Fine Arts Chair, Past Board of Education Member, Dr. Timothy Scherman

Beyond his numerous culinary accolades, Chef Trotter has philanthropic ties to a vast number of charities.  Closest to his heart is the Charlie Trotter Culinary Education Foundation, which has raised over a million dollars, to date.  Chef Trotter has also received awards from both President Bush and Colin Powell for his work with his Culinary Foundation and was named one of only five “heroes” to be honored by Colin Powell’s charity, America’s Promise.  In 2005, Chef Trotter was awarded the Humanitarian of the Year award by the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

As Chef Trotter regaled attendees with stories from his childhood and his restaurant and entrepreneurial adventures he also spoke of his philanthropic beliefs and efforts. He then punctuated this belief by announcing a $5,000 donation to the Educational Foundation.

“We were stunned into silence for a moment… but we then realized what an enormous contribution this is for our Foundation and we are most grateful to Chef Trotter” commented Anne Carole Witort, Foundation Chair. “We look forward to putting this donation to use across our endeavors to enhance and enrich our schools’ curricula.”

In addition to Chef Trotter’s personal donation, the Foundation raised over $10,000 at this year’s event. “We knew it would be an inspiring challenge to match our first Distinguished Citizen event, where we honored Gina and Roger Myerson, Foundation founders and he a Nobel Laureate,” said Alice Schaff, Foundation Fundraising Chair. “We were thrilled with the turnout and thankful for the donations from across the community for this second event. We are so fortunate to have such distinguished citizens, past, current…and future. We believe the Distinguished Citizen event will be an important fundraiser for us on an on-going basis.”

The District 39 Educational Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to investing in our children’s future.  The Foundation’s Gripp Grant program provides funds for educational programs, experiences, and technologies that expand, enrich, and complement the schools’ curricula.