Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) founded

Identification Relief organization established to deliver food packages to European civilians after World War II

Also Known As Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe; Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere

Date Established in 1945

CARE and its CARE food packages helped stave off widespread starvation and disease throughout much of Europe for several years after World War II. CARE constructed the only guaranteed delivery distribution network in war-destroyed Europe that allowed American civilians to send food packages to civilians in Europe.

Starvation, disease, and massive social disturbances were widespread threats immediately after the war. CARE, founded in 1945 as the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe, originated as an umbrella organization of two dozen humanitarian relief organizations, all of which were involved in delivering food aid to Europe after World War II. Arthur Ringland was the primary source of the organization’s concept and was a major figure in securing financial backing. Cofounder Lincoln Clark focused on practical administration, and cofounder Wallace Campbell helped maintain CARE’s focus on voluntary agencies. CARE bought surplus military rations in huge quantities, chartered cargo ships that had been released from military duties, and transported food to distribution points throughout Europe.

CARE Packages

The most common CARE package was the U.S Army “10-in-1” food package, originally intended to feed soldiers during the invasion of Japan. One package was intended to feed ten soldiers for one day, hence its name. The package contained approximately twenty-two pounds of food, about 40,000 calories of protein and carbohydrates. Designed to be air dropped to soldiers in the field, each food package was encased in heavy waxed cardboard wrapped with metal bands. Inside the large package were four tightly wrapped smaller packages containing complete individual meals.

Each CARE food package cost an American donor ten dollars. Delivery to the intended recipient was guaranteed within four months, or the donor’s money would be refunded. Recipients in Europe received notification at their last known address that a CARE package was being held in their name. They were instructed to pick up their CARE package at the nearest distribution depot. Upon receiving the CARE package, the recipient signed a delivery receipt that was returned to the donor as proof of delivery. Americans of all income levels, including President Harry S. Truman, donated money to buy “10-in-1” CARE packages. Each CARE package included pictures of the contents as well as a translation of the contents into the recipient’s language.

The first CARE packages, 22,000 in total, arrived at the port of Le Havre, France, in May, 1946. Packages were shipped throughout Europe to regional and local distribution centers. Although CARE packages could be addressed to specific individuals, many donors instructed that their donated package be sent to a schoolteacher, or an elderly person, or simply to a hungry family in Europe. CARE improved its distribution network rapidly as roads throughout Europe were repaired sufficiently to be reopened. CARE agreed to set up a distribution network in any country that agreed to exempt CARE packages from customs duties and allowed CARE workers to supervise delivery procedures. By early 1947, CARE was delivering 10,000 packages per week to recipients throughout Germany. By the end of 1947, CARE had bought, shipped, and delivered almost 45 million pounds of U.S. Army surplus “10-in-1” food packages. In Germany alone, CARE delivered more than one million food packages.

Personal accounts from CARE package recipients indicate that notification to pick up a CARE package caused widespread curiosity among neighbors, all of whom were equally hungry and equally intrigued to see what food from another country looked like. The process of unpacking a CARE package was complicated and required tools to cut the metal wrapping bands and a slicer to cut through the heavy cardboard. Recipients often displayed each item to groups that attended the unwrapping. As important as the food was to people who had been hungry for so long, equally as important was the fact that someone from beyond the area destroyed by war remembered them and cared enough to help.

After exhausting U.S. Army surplus food stores, CARE developed its own food packages to include those foods most nutritionally necessary and in shortest supply in Europe. CARE bought in huge quantities and shipped in uniform-sized containers in order to keep prices low. CARE also developed a “blanket” package consisting of two U.S. Army wool blankets, a sewing kit, a shoe repair kit, and patterns from New York design firms showing how to turn the blankets into winter clothing. CARE shipped more than 25,000 of these “blanket” packages, each costing an American donor the same ten dollars as a food package. CARE also developed a “woolen” package using military surplus woolen fabric. This package also included a sewing kit and instructions on how to sew different types of clothing for children and adults.

CARE remained active in Germany through the 1940’s. When the Soviet Union military blockaded its sector of Berlin from June, 1948, until May, 1949, CARE packages were airlifted into the city as part of what was termed the Berlin airlift. When the blockade was lifted months later, a CARE relief truck loaded with critical food supplies was one of the first vehicles to reenter the Soviet-occupied zone.

Celebrities in America participated in public relations campaigns to remind Americans to continue to donate funds for CARE packages even after the initial crisis passed. These efforts allowed CARE to extend its humanitarian relief efforts into the Philippines in 1949. From there, CARE expanded into Korea as the Korean War intensified, leaving tens of thousands of civilians homeless and hungry. CARE was asked to extend its mission to India and China but was forced to decline because the lack of functioning road systems in much of the rural territories made delivery of CARE packages impossible.

Impact

From its origins as a food distribution organization after World War II, CARE, renamed Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, expanded operations throughout the developing world. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, it directed more than fourteen thousand workers worldwide from its secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. As one of the largest international relief organizations, CARE supports a variety of self-help projects leading to economic self-sufficiency, respect for human rights (particularly the rights of women), and an end to poverty.

Bibliography

Milward, Alan S. The Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1945-1951. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. Study of all aspects of Europe’s postwar economic recovery, with numerous tables documenting progress of the recovery in detail.

Rieff, David. A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002. Examination of how humanitarian organizations have lost sight of their original principle of neutrality by encouraging international communities.

Smyser, W. R. Humanitarian Conscience: Caring for Others. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Comprehensive study of global humanitarianism that includes recommendations on how to respond to twenty-first century challenges.

Stanneck Gross, Inge Erika. Memories of World War II and Its Aftermath: By a Little Girl Growing Up in Berlin. Eastsound, Wash.: Island in the Sky Publishing, 2004. A young German girl in Berlin when World War II began, the author recalls the joy and gratitude her family felt when they received their first CARE package from America after the war.