Atlanta, Georgia, May 11, 2026 — Eight decades after creating and delivering the first CARE PACKAGE boxes, the humanitarian organization CARE is marking the anniversary by relaunching the CARE PACKAGE and hosting a series of community CARE PACKAGE events nationwide.
Eighty years ago, on May 11, 1946, the first CARE PACKAGE boxes arrived in Le Havre, France, delivering relief and hope to families recovering from the devastation of World War II. Stocked with essential food supplies and everyday comforts, the boxes quickly became powerful symbols of American compassion. This movement was started by 22 American civic, relief, and charitable organizations who joined forces in New York City to form the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe — an effort that would become CARE, the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere. In the 80 years that followed, CARE has grown into a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty in more than 120 countries.
Marlene Mahta, 86, remembers receiving CARE PACKAGE boxes as a child in postwar Frankfurt, Germany: “We had no residence. We had no food. We had no water. Suddenly, there was a distribution of CARE PACKAGES…I still remember the taste of the chocolate. I remember the feeling of being seen, of knowing that someone, somewhere, cared.”
The CARE PACKAGE launched a global humanitarian movement and became a universal symbol of solidarity. Today, CARE is renewing that legacy by relaunching the iconic CARE PACKAGE, with the goal of reaching two million people worldwide by 2030 and expanding its work in the United States.
“The CARE PACKAGE showed what’s possible when people come together to support one another,” said Michelle Nunn, President and CEO of CARE. “Reconnecting Americans to the CARE PACKAGE helps carry forward the culture of care that emerged after World War II. At a time when humanitarian needs are rising and aid resources are dwindling, we are looking to bring that same spirit of compassion to families facing crisis around the world and here at home.”