'The damn hostility comes right inside the food box': Needy families find Trump letter in food boxes
Palm Beach Post
As far as the staff and volunteers at the Guatemalan Maya Center in Lake Worth knew, the hundreds of boxes of food they handed out to needy families the morning of Aug. 22 contained fresh corn, sweet potatoes, onions, apples and peaches. They were shocked when they began receiving calls from frightened and angry families who found a letter from President Donald Trump inside the box. In it, Trump touted his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and expressed his deep concern for their well-being. "You and your loved ones are cherished members of our great American family," Trump wrote in the letter printed on White House letterhead in both English and Spanish "Together, we will overcome this challenge, and our nation will emerge from this crisis stronger than ever before." To those receiving the food boxes, Trump's letter was as puzzling as it was insulting, said Father Frank O'Loughlin, executive director of the Guatemalan Maya Center. For four years they listened as Trump lobbed anti-Latino tropes that they were rapists, drug dealers and recklessly barging into the country via caravans at the border. And they watched as immigrant and asylum-seeking Latino children were separated from their families at the border under Trump's zero tolerance immigration policy, O'Loughlin said. "The damn hostility comes right inside the food box," O'Loughlin said about the letter. Olga Perez, a volunteer who delivers food boxes to families who have no transportation, said she had never seen anything like Trump's letter during eight years of delivering food for the center. "Some people were angry because they felt the box and food were being politicized," Perez said. "Some were scared that the government was going to take repercussions or would find out where they live." Five families told her they would no longer accept the food boxes, afraid that the government might find those who were undocumented or that they did not want to fulfill Trump's stereotype of immigrants living off government assistance, Perez said. "Honestly, I was so mad because he was using people he needs to win this election and win the Hispanic vote," Perez said, adding that many of those who receive aid have jobs, pay taxes and are working towards becoming citizens. "There are some people that need this type of food and the fact it's been politicized to get our vote is very disrespectful." The food-box giveaway was part of the federal government's Farmers to Families Food Box Program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative to buy fresh food and ship it to needy families. The program has distributed more than 75 million food boxes in support of American farmers and families affected by the pandemic. In mid-August, Trump announced an additional up to $1 billion will be added to the Farmers to Families Food Box Program while the economy continues to reopen. The letter is reminiscent of Trump's effort to put his name on nearly 90 million government stimulus checks even though he was not authorized to sign such disbursements. Trump's jagged signature in thick black pend appeared in the memo portion of the check. As with the food boxes, the stimulus checks also came with a letter from Trump, in which he lauded the administration's efforts to "wage total war on this invisible enemy" by "working around the clock to protect hardworking Americans like you from the consequences of the economic shutdown. " The food-box giveaway was part of the federal government's Farmers to Families Food Box Program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative to buy fresh food and ship it to needy families. The program has distributed more than 75 million food boxes in support of American farmers and families affected by the pandemic. In mid-August, Trump announced an additional up to $1 billion will be added to the Farmers to Families Food Box Program while the economy continues to reopen. Whether those boxes will include the letter is not known. However, those at the Guatemalan Maya Center who distributed and received food were not the only ones disturbed by Trump's letter. Forty-nine House Democrats sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Aug. 14 requesting information about the purpose and process behind Trump’s letter. “Using a federal relief program to distribute a self-promoting letter from the President to American families just three months before the presidential election is inappropriate and a violation of federal law,” argued the House members who signed the letter. “A public health crisis is not an opportunity for the administration to promote its own political interests. Likewise, a federal food assistance program should not be used as a tool for the President to exploit taxpayer dollars for his re-election campaign.”
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