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History of CARE Canada
The scope of CARE's mission has changed considerably since its founding, when 22 American organizations came together to rush life-saving "CARE packages" to survivors of the Second World War. On May 11, 1946, with help from Canada, 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.
What was in the first CARE Packages?
- one pound of beef in broth
- one 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
- one pound of lard
- one pound of fruit preserves
- one pound of honey
- one pound of raisins
- one pound of chocolate
- 2 pounds of sugar
- 8 ounces of egg powder
- 2 pounds of whole-milk powder
- 2 pounds of coffee
Over the years, CARE's work has expanded as it addresses the world's most threatening problems. In the 1950s, CARE expanded into emerging nations; in the 1960s, it pioneered primary health care programmes. In the 1970s, CARE responded to massive famines in Africa with both emergency relief and long-term agro-forestry projects, integrating environmentally sound land-management practices with farming programmes. In 2004, CARE was one of the primary emergency responders in an unprecedented natural disaster, the South Asian tsunami. Today, CARE works in almost 70 countries, focusing on global issues like HIV and AIDS, economic strengthening, women’s empowerment, adaptation to climate change, development and relief.
CARE Canada’s staff – many of whom are Canadian, but most of whom are citizens of the countries where CARE works – help strengthen communities through an array of programmes that work to create lasting solutions to root causes of poverty.
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