A pastor’s simple tweet resulted in a $50,000 donation from Ivanka Trump.
Last week, Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, tweeted about his church’s efforts to care for children who were in federal custody and separated from their parents after trying to cross the U.S. border illegally.
He wrote, “We are currently working to provide solutions to care for children during this terrible immigration crisis. Our Espanol ministry led by Gilberto Corredera is stepping up to the challenge to express the love of Jesus. We are broken-hearted and determined to act.”
That simple tweet has gotten 223 likes. But it also caught the eye of Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump and one of his advisors.
She didn’t just read the tweet, Graham told his congregation at Prestonwood’s Sunday service this weekend that the First Daughter donated $50,000 toward the church’s efforts to care for immigrants.
Graham told his congregation that the money would be used to make an assessment trip to the detention centers near Brownsville, Texas to determine need and how churches can respond to it. Graham, alongside several of the informal evangelical advisers to the administration, will then plan an event the first week of July for the children being held.
He said, “They need someone to give them hope. Our plan is to create an event for the children that will encourage them and make them smile.”