Ivanka Trump visits Lumberton disaster relief site

Oct. 04--LUMBERTON -- When Lisa Cummings of Parkton pulled up at Hyde Park Baptist Church on Wednesday, she was shocked to see the president's daughter giving out food to victims of Hurricane Florence.

After Cummings recognized Ivanka Trump, she got out of her sports utility vehicle and hugged the first daughter.

"I'm so excited," Cummings said after the encounter. "I just about fainted."

Trump, who also is a senior advisor to the president, spent about 40 minutes meeting relief workers and handing out meals in flood-ravaged Robeson County. She arrived just after 4 p.m. at the church, which is serving as a relief site where N.C. Baptists on Mission, the Red Cross and others are helping hundreds of victims.

Trump spent 12 1/2 minutes handing food in foam containers to the occupants of cars as they arrived. When a silver minivan pulled up, the back door slid open and someone inside handed 3-year-old Kaliyah McKeithan of Bladenboro to Trump. She smiled and lifted the child above her head.

The first daughter chatted with volunteers and posed for photos. She spoke with Lumberton Mayor Bruce Davis and Paul Hooker, the site commander with the Baptist group.

Lumbee Tribal Chairman Harvey Godwin also met briefly with Trump, who posed for pictures with him and other tribe members.

Godwin said he told Trump about the tribe partnering with the Red Cross to get meals to victims and about the tribe's fight for federal recognition.

"We're still continuing that fight," Godwin said. "Our message is broadening."

Hooker said about 50 volunteers continue to work at the site on North Roberts Avenue, and another 65 are working at another site in Lumberton.

Baptists volunteers have been working in Robeson County since Hurricane Matthew, Hooker said.

Parts of the county had yet to recover from that storm, which hit the area in October 2016. Hooker said he knows of one family that about three months ago just got back in their house after Matthew.

"They built it up 8 feet, and it still flooded (during Florence)," Hooker said. "It'll break your heart."

The Baptist group has prepared about 140,000 meals at Hyde Park in 19 days, Hooker said. More than 1,600 meals were given out at the church on Tuesday, he said.

Ten mobile kitchens operated by the organization and Baptists from other states have served more than 900,000 meals in eastern North Carolina, Hooker said.

"There's a lot of people, this is their calling," Hooker said. "They feel like God wants them to do this."

Hooker said visits like the one from Ivanka Trump lift the volunteers' spirits.

"We're a pretty low profile group," he said.

Staff writer Steve DeVane can be reached at sdevane@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3572.

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