History of CARE
CARE is one of the world's largest private humanitarian organizations. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, we're part of an international confederation of 12 member organizations committed to helping communities in the developing world achieve lasting victories over poverty.
Our origins
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Every CARE Package is a personal contribution to the world peace our nation seeks. It expresses America's concern and friendship in a language all peoples understand. – President John F. Kennedy, 1962
CARE was founded in 1945, when 22 American organizations came together to rush lifesaving CARE Packages to survivors of World War II. Thousands of Americans, including President Harry S. Truman, contributed to the effort.
On May 11, 1946, the first 20,000 packages reached the battered port of Le Havre, France. Some 100 million more CARE Packages reached people in need during the next two decades, first in Europe and later in Asia and other parts of the developing world.
The original CARE Package®
The first CARE Packages were U.S. Army surplus "10-in-1" food parcels intended to provide one meal for 10 soldiers during the planned invasion of Japan. We obtained them at the end of World War II and began a service that let Americans send the packages to friends and families in Europe, where millions were in danger of starvation. Ten dollars bought a CARE Package and guaranteed that its addressee would receive it within four months.
When the "10-in-1" parcels ran out, we began assembling our own food packages, greatly assisted by donations from American companies. At first, senders had to designate a specific person as the recipient, but soon CARE was flooded with donations to send CARE Packages to "a hungry occupant of a thatched cottage," "a school teacher in Germany," and so on.
What was in the first CARE Packages?
- 1 pound of beef in broth
- 1 pound of steak and kidneys
- 8 ounces of liver loaf
- 8 ounces of corned beef
- 12 ounces of luncheon loaf (like Spam®)
- 8 ounces of bacon
- 2 pounds of margarine
- 1 pound of lard
- 1 pound of fruit preserves
- 1 pound of honey
- 1 pound of raisins
- 1 pound of chocolate
- 2 pounds of sugar
- 8 ounces of egg powder
- 2 pounds of whole-milk powder
- 2 pounds of coffee
Later, CARE Packages included food for different cultural diets and non-food items such as carpentry tools, blankets, clothes, school supplies and medicine.
CARE Package phased out
Decades ago, we largely phased out the CARE Package as we expanded the breadth of our work to focus on long-term projects in addition to emergency relief. However, the CARE Package remained a powerful symbol of the compassion and generosity of those who support CARE's vision of a world free of poverty and suffering.
CARE today
Today, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. We place special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. Women are at the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve basic education, prevent the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity and protect natural resources. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives.
In fiscal year 2010, CARE worked in 87 countries around the world, supporting 905 poverty-fighting projects to reach more than 82 million people, over half of whom are women.
Bringing back an icon: the CARE Package
The CARE Package, an icon of American generosity and global leadership, has come out of retirement to honor the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.
Like its predecessor, the new CARE Package will transform the way people all over the world invest in helping others survive and thrive. The variety of lifesaving, life-changing gifts that can be sent in the new CARE Package is immense.With today's CARE Package, you will read the stories of girls and women who CARE works with each day. You'll learn about the issues that shape poor people's lives and interventions that can you can take to make a world of difference. For example, you can help provide a year of schooling for a girl in Afghanistan or help an expectant mother in Peru safely deliver her child.
Visit www.CAREPackage.org to experience an interactive Web tool that will let you send customized gifts of opportunity, empowerment and hope to girls and women around the world!
Learn more
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