CARE Marks the 60th Anniversary of the First CARE Package with Call to Empower Women in the Developing World
| Regine Binet of Bayeux, France, not far from the Normandy invasion beaches, receives a CARE Package in 1946. (CARE Photo) |
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Sixty years ago on May 11, 1946, the first CARE Packages were delivered to the battered port of Le Havre, France by a new organization, CARE. Today one of the world's leading humanitarian organizations, CARE works with women and families to fight poverty in 70 countries.
The first CARE Packages were U.S. Army surplus "10-in-1" food parcels intended to provide one meal for 10 soldiers. CARE obtained the surplus of packages at the end of World War II and began a service that let Americans send them for $10 to friends, families and strangers in Europe, where millions were in danger of starvation.
To a world battered by six years of war, these plain brown boxes became a symbol of hope and a sign that somewhere someone cared. Today, CARE represents the same sense of compassion, working to ensure education, health care, water, food, housing, income and peace in poor communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The contents of the first packages varied by country. England received tea; France and Germany received coffee; packages going to Italy included pasta. The CARE Package quickly entered the English language as something necessary, desirable and sent with affection.
Some 100 million CARE Packages reached people in need during the next two decades, but as CARE grew the CARE Package model no longer met the needs of international development. By 1967, the CARE Packages were largely phased out in favor of on-the-ground projects aimed at reducing poverty and empowering poor people. Although CARE still responds to emergencies in impoverished countries, CARE's mission has expanded to include working side by side with poor communities to help them break the cycle of poverty.
Dr. Helene D. Gayle, CARE President and CEO, explains: "Though the CARE Package has long been replaced by a wide variety of projects, the broader mission of CARE remains true to the spirit that inspired Americans in 1946 to look beyond their own families and borders and embrace a commitment to help those in need."
Recognizing that women and children suffer disproportionately from poverty, CARE places special emphasis on working with women to create permanent social change. 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.
Sixty years ago, Americans took action to help people they hardly knew. To this day, CARE's supporters are the motivating force behind our work to fight poverty around the world. Find out how you can get involved today.
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Atlanta: Lurma Rackley, CARE USA,
lrackley@care.org, (404) 979-9450
