Meet Anne Trotter Hinkamp: TTP Co-Founder and Charlie’s Sister

Anne Trotter Hinkamp is one of the founders of The Trotter Project. She currently is secretary on the board and is Charlie's sister.

Anne Trotter Hinkamp is not only one of The Trotter Project’s co-founders—you could call her head cheerleader of the organization! Anne has put her heart and soul into The Trotter Project, for its scholarship program and for upholding her brother Charlie’s legacy. Read more about Anne’s journey and TTP’s 10 years below!

Learn more about how Anne and Charlie kept in touch by letters here.

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us here today. Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself, your background and how you got to where you are today? 

I have a Bachelor's in fine arts and in art history, and a minor in ceramics. So I did quite a bit of pottery ceramics through high school and college into my adult life. I don't as much anymore, but I segued more into photography and learned how to develop my own photos. Now I use more digital and iPhone. 

I had worked in advertising for a little over 10 years in Chicago at about four different agencies over the time span, and quit to raise my daughters. I have three daughters and I always thought, “Once they go off to college, I will get back into something.”

I wasn't really sure what it would be while I was at home with them as their mom. I did a lot of volunteer work at their school, our church, anywhere that could use helping hands and would keep me in tune with my kids without maybe them always knowing. But before I could wait for the last one to graduate,  Charlie passed away and that changed my trajectory as an at-home mom. I wound up getting involved in the Trotter Project.  

You and Charlie were two years apart. Tell us a little bit more about your relationship with him. Did you always feel as close as you did as you got older, or did that develop over time?

When I first was brought home from the hospital, the first words he said to me were, “Baby Anne, get up.” He was a very active kid and expected the same with this newborn baby. From that point on, he led the way and I would follow. He was an easy person to follow. 

He was full of ideas and had interesting things that he wanted to do, and it was easy for me to go along with that. And we always got along very well. He was a gymnast in high school and very involved in tumbling, the floor exercises, and trampoline. They outlawed the trampoline at one point during his high school years because it was too dangerous to compete on, and so our family inherited it. So he would teach my brothers and I flips, backflips, one and a halfs, anything you could think of on the trampoline. And we went along with it. 

He was just a leader and a mentor in a way where he would teach us these things and we'd go along with it because he believed in us and showed us. He made us feel that we could do these things. He was great about rallying neighborhood kids. People were drawn to him.

He just had a way about him that it was just fun to be with him. And it was never the same, never a dull moment. As we got older, he went off to college and we remained in close contact by letters and postcards because at that time he was considered long distance and that would mean a long distance phone call, which would also mean a fee, and we didn't want to have to  have to pay for a phone call.

So it was a lot of letter writing and postcards, and they would come pretty frequently. It was a great way to stay in touch. And I've saved those. I commend myself for saving them. We just remained very close throughout our lives. 

I even helped out when the restaurant first opened. I made a sign for the window announcing the restaurant. I also worked there helping seat people and anything that he needed. We always were very, very connected throughout our lives.

Do you like working in the restaurant with him? 

I did. At the time, I was also working a full-time job in advertising. I loved the staff and it was a whole family affair.

My dad was a partner of Charlie's and offered his business sense that Charlie didn't have knowledge of. He had knowledge of the kitchen. My two younger brothers also worked there. And my mother, of course, was there for the entire 25 years and was kind of a mother to the whole staff.

And so it really was a family affair and we all really enjoyed it. 

Tell us a little bit more about the beginning of The Trotter Project and really what this has meant to you.  

There were two little seeds that were planted for The Trotter Project, and one was the night before Charlie's funeral.

Graham Elliott had a gathering at his restaurant in Chicago at the time and it was filled with Charlie Trotter alumni, restaurant friends, patrons, family. And all of a sudden, I'm standing face-to-face with Homaro Cantu. And he says, “We really have to think about a way to keep Charlie's legacy going.”

“What can we do? I want to be involved. I will help. I will rally people, but we cannot, let his legacy go.” At the time, you know, we were so shell shocked by the sudden loss and just planning a funeral and going through all of that, that we hadn't really thought about, “Well, then what?”

And I thought, this guy's got a great idea. We’re going to get through this weekend and we're going to get back to him. The next day was the funeral. And the most amazing thing at this funeral was that at the reception afterwards, I can't count how many people came up to me and family members and said, “If it weren't for Charlie, I would not be where I am today. Charlie gave me this opportunity. Charlie asked me to help with this. It was the greatest reward I've ever had.” These stories went on and on. After hearing that, it was a done decision. We needed to continue doing something for his legacy to maintain itself, and to be out there and relevant.

The founding members really started forming that weekend. The amount of people that wanted to help and roll up their sleeves was amazing. It was alumni from the restaurant and it was friends, a great collection of people with unique backgrounds that came together.

Once we had a core group that was a good size, we started meeting every week and it was really grassroots. “What would be the best way to continue Charlie's legacy?” We did a lot of different things. We had a lot of partnerships with different companies and different organizations, just to try to figure out how to get ourselves out there and be known that this is the charity that's representing Charlie.

We were sort of feeling around to see what would be the best way. And we put on a lot of events, which did involve a lot of time and effort, well worth it. But they come at a bit of a cost. It was very much just putting ourselves out there and getting the word out. This group was amazing in helping us do that. 

How has your role shifted over the last decade? What would you say has been the one title you feel like you could give yourself?  

I would say that I have had unwavering support. I have never stepped away. I've never let anything fall out of my grip. I've been very attached to this charity. It's so near and dear to my heart that I would say that anyone who knows of it knows that I could be relied upon as one of the hearts of this group.

And I would never let it go. I think what is so important is to see Charlie's name remain out there, and to hope that he continues to be credited for what he has done for Chicago and the world. I want to see that—I'm still waving that flag and helping keep that going. 

What has the evolution of The Trotter Project looked like? 

As I said, it was such a grassroots kind of an approach in the beginning and meeting every week, which was a lot of time for people.

We've gotten more sophisticated over time. We have streamlined things. We've got good board rules as any charity would have. We have just very much gotten to be older children, I guess, in terms of running a nice tight ship. It's not as much of the parties and events. 

I think we've really honed in on some very meaningful things and seeing impact more so than in the beginning, possibly. But part of that was just the nature of it. It was getting the name out, getting ourselves out there and then showing how we're making a difference, which we really have been.  

Let's talk about that impact a little bit more, especially from that scholarship position. Why has it been a program that's been so important specifically to the Trotter family?

Well, education has always been the key thing in our lives. But what my father saw was that so many people were not able to go out and get an education. And so he started the Trotter Family Foundation, whose sole purpose is to make contributions to areas where there are underserved people that are not able to get the help they need to get into a college or continue to be in high school.

We're continuing that with our own scholarship program and Charlie was doing the same thing. Charlie was giving out scholarships. He was helping students come to the restaurant and teach them. And so it was such a logical transition to continue what my dad started and what Charlie did.

Our Trotter Family Foundation makes a contribution and we earmark it specifically for scholarships among those that apply for The Trotter Project. We have a lot of scholarship requests this time. I've personally served on the scholarship committee, and I have to say, it is the most heartwarming thing to get to know students by what they submit. Through videos, written letters. It's incredible how many are out there wanting to pursue these careers.

We have three categories of our scholarships. One is named after Charlie, an excellence scholarship. One is after Homaro Cantu, our founder, and is a service and hospitality scholarship. And then the third is after Farmer Lee Jones, which is agricultural. 

Having to sift through and select the final recipients is so difficult. I wish we could give them all something. It's just been so incredible to see the response and the need.

Beyond that, what are some of your other favorite stories or memories of the scholars that you've had? 

Well, we've had so many amazing ones. I think what stands out about some of the scholars was early on going to a culinary competition. And I had not seen anything like that in a while. This was my first time seeing students do this. I could not believe the finesse and the wherewithal, the things they were coming up with on the spot. And they were calm and cool and, and just so impressive. 

Another time we had a scholar that was working at a gourmet pizza shop and they were doing a special. Our scholar who was working there was making one. And I thought, you know what, I'll see how this is. And I bit into her pizza and it was amazing. It was way better than the chef's—sorry! I couldn't believe it—I mean, I should have. It was so great to see this talent and taste this talent. That was just so memorable and this particular young chef has gone on to do so much, obviously very talented.

Scholars have also come along with us to speak at our gala events. It’s difficult for them to get dressed up and speak in front of all these people. It's intimidating. And they are so charming and so appreciative. It just continues to warm my heart at how impactful this has been, to see it and hear it and taste it. 

Are there any other memories from the Trotter Project that you'd like to share? Anything else that stands out to you over the last 10 years?

I would just say that we have had some very fun events. Very early on, literally within the first few months of forming, it was around Buckingham Fountain in Chicago and we had a gorgeous night, beautiful skyline, but this was what really showed me that this is the beginning of something. We had the most amazing, impressive lineup of chefs at that event. People like Dominique Crenn were there. I mean, it was crazy, and that was just very special.

But I'd say right now, what's the nearest and dearest is seeing these students really get to take off because of this gift of education. I hold that tight in my heart. It's so amazing, the people that have gotten involved to help us. 

It's mind blowing how people that have given their time, whether they're on the board, whether it's a chef helping out, the amount of people that have devoted themselves in ways that they didn't have to. They're not getting paid and sometimes it’s not even really being known that they're doing it. They're behind the scenes, and that to me is just unbelievable. I think that's something that you really do experience once you're involved like this, but it’s the devotion, whether it's for Charlie or seeing these kids get to move on in their lives with something, that's pretty spectacular. 

We also have a great hydroponic garden coming up within a freight farm in Austin, which is so exciting. It's about to happen. We'll see more soon, but I would love to be able to give out more scholarships, I would love to see more of that. So hopefully we can build that up and provide more students with this amazing element in their lives. 

It's an honor to see Charlie's legacy continue and tie so many of us together here today with people that knew him. It just seems like wherever I go, there's some connection, that he's found a way to connect people and he continues to do it.

By joining The Trotter Project, it's opened doors for me. I’ve opened myself up to so much, and it’s tied me into friends of his that I might not have maybe been as close to. It's been so rewarding, and he lives on. 

Thanks so much for sharing your story with us, Anne, and for your continued leadership of The Trotter Project! To support our scholarships and other programming, be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date and check out our donation page here!