Commentary

Ivanka Trump teams up with Chobani founder to deliver fresh food to families in need

January 15, 2022 | | Print Article

While most folks are fleeing New York for a taste of Florida’s freedom, Ivanka Trump returned to Rochester Friday, teaming up with Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya to deliver fruit, vegetable, and plenty of yogurt to upstate families in need.

The former White House advisor was seen lugging locally grown Honeycrisps, Pink Ladies, and Rubyfrosts to add to already stuffed food boxes, filled by generous local growers.

“This really evolved out of a discussion Hamdi and I had over lunch one day as the holidays were approaching and the dollar is going less far due to inflation,” Trump told the New York Post.

“The need is very real and certainly no one program is going to fulfill it but every little bit we can do helps, and Hamdi and I were both really happy to give back a little bit during the holidays,” she added.

Bundled in a jacket, gloves, and a turtleneck sweater, the always-stylish Ivanka admitted the air in Rochester was chillier than in Miami, but that doesn’t stop her from visiting the Big Apple once or twice a month.

“I do love the weather in Florida and the ocean, but New York holds a special place in our hearts,” she said.

“The Farmers to Families program provided 155 million boxes of food in the past eight weeks. Trump’s new effort has helped distribute 50,000, and there’s hope the program grows,” 13WHAM-TV reported.

“So, we want to do what we can. And government – I could do it at a different scale, but as a private citizen, there are still many opportunities to give back,” Trump told the outlet.

When asked if she’s considering a political career, the former first daughter replied: “Oh, I love to leave the politics behind and focus on the impact.”

“So, that’s what I’m here doing and that’s been a joy for me,” she added.

On this trip, Ivanka was also treated to a tour of Hurd’s Orchards, a 7th generation family-owned fruit and flower farm and canning company in Holley, New York, just west of Rochester.

(Image: Twitter/NY Post)

The pairing of Ivanka and Ulukaya for a food drive proves that political differences can be set aside for the greater good.

In 2017, Ulukaya, a Kurd from Turkey, responded strongly and vocally to President Trump’s travel ban which prevented nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — from entering the United States for at least 90 days.

The order also banned all refugees from coming into the U.S. for four months and barred those attempting entry from war-torn Syria indefinitely.

“This is very personal for me,” Ulukaya wrote at the time in an internal memo obtained by CNN. “As an immigrant who came to this country looking for opportunity, it’s very difficult to think about and imagine what millions of people around the world must be feeling right now.”

“America has always been a symbol of hope, tolerance and diversity —and these are values we must work very hard to uphold,” he wrote.

These core American values were on full display in Rochester, as the unlikely duo of Ulukaya and Trump put past disagreements aside to help families hit hard by pandemic woes, bare shelves, high energy costs, and soaring inflation under President Biden’s flailing administration and the State of New York’s suffocating COVID mandates.

Melissa Fine
Latest posts by Melissa Fine (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles