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Ivanka Trump Sends 1M Meals To Ukrainian Refugees on Poland-Ukraine Border

Former President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, recently purchased 1 million meals for Ukrainian refugees stuck at the Polish border. A source familiar with Trump told Fox News that Ivanka personally contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars for the meals. The shipment weighed in at over 150,000 pounds of food for struggling Europeans.

At a glance

  • Ivanka Trump, whose mother and grandmother share eastern European roots, recently donated 1 million meals to Ukrainian refugees
  • The effort was not a simple cash donation; palettes of food are set to fly across the world into Poland, where they’ll be distributed
  • Trump worked with numerous nonprofits, church groups, and civic leaders to pull off the massive donation

Ivanka Trump coordinated the purchase amongst multiple nonprofit orgs like City Serve, City of Destiny, and Mercy Chefs in order to deliver the food directly to Ukrainian refugees, Fox News reports. The charitable orgs also helped package and ship the shelf-stable meals, which included mostly oatmeal and goulash. The source said that aid workers in Ukraine helped pick the meals.

Trump also coordinated the reported 4,800 boxes of food with the UPS Foundation, the Pentecostal European Fellowship, and several local churches. The food will arrive in Warsaw, Poland, as soon as possible. Once in Poland, volunteers from local communities and other faith-based orgs will distribute the food directly to refugees in both Poland and Ukraine.

“The Ukrainian refugees have shown inspiring courage and resilience during the invasion of their country by Russia,” Ivanka Trump told Fox News. “As is often the case, pain and hardship are disproportionately borne by the most vulnerable.

“With this food, I hope to provide a small source of comfort and nourishment for Ukrainians who are suffering so greatly.”

Ivanka Trump worked with Florida church communities to help handle logistics for the Ukrainian refugees

Ivanka’s mother Ivana Trump grew up in war-torn, Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia decades ago. Sources close to Ivanka say that the family connection to Eastern Europe is important to her, and that the Ukrainian crisis means a lot, as well. Trump’s 96-year-old grandmother Marie Zenicova still lives with the family in Florida.

“People here in the U.S. are hungry to do something to help. People there are hungry for help,” Orlando-area Pastor Paula White-Cain said in an interview. “While we were deciding how to connect the two, I got a call from Ivanka Trump. She and I worked closely in the White House to put together a hunger relief program called Farmers to Families. When I told Ivanka what we were doing, she went into action as only Ivanka can.”

White-Cain also added: “Quite honestly, if it weren’t for her immediate involvement, a plane would not already be on its way to Poland. [It’s on the way] right now to deliver 1 million meals for Ukrainian refugees fleeing the devastation of their nation.”

Since Putin invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, more than 3 million Ukrainians refugees fled the country seeking asylum. The United Nations estimates that Poland took in more than 1.2 million of the refugees; with hundreds of thousands more fleeing to neighboring countries including Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and others.