A young French girl receiving a CARE package in 1946  © CARE.

CARE was founded right after World War II, on November 27th, 1945. Originally known as the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe, it aimed at sending food aid and basic supplies to war-torn Europe, in the form of “CARE packages”. At the time, such goods were hard to find or rationed, and millions of people were at risk of suffering from hunger. The first 20,000 packages reached the port of Le Havre, France, on May 11, 1946.

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.

As the economies of the former wartime nations developed and improved, the focus of CARE's work shifted from Europe to the problems of the developing world. In the 1950s, CARE expanded into emerging nations. In the 1960s,  CARE pioneered primary health care programs. In the 1970s, CARE responded to massive famines in Africa with both emergency relief and long-term agroforestry projects. CARE is now a proven leader among international humanitarian organizations, striving to bring about lasting, meaningful change in the of the world’s poorest communities.

What was in the first CARE packages?

Later CARE Packages included food for different cultural diets and non-food items such as carpentry tools, blankets, school supplies and medicine.