FIRST CARE PACKAGES, 1946
MONDAY, JULY 15
Help in times of need
The summer of 1946 is a special memory for many people in Europe. The Second World War had been over for a year. But the need was still great.
There was hardly any food to buy, many people were starving, and many parents did not know how to feed their children. And in this time of need, packages arrived from the USA, the so-called CARE packages ("care" is English and means "to worry"/"to look after").
Who did the donations come from?
Church and other aid organizations prepared this campaign. Every American could send a package to Europe for 15 dollars. It contained the most basic food for three to four weeks.
But there were often unexpected surprises as well: children's shoes, hair clips, little fashionable items that had not been seen in Germany for years.
The packages were sent with the name of the donor so that the recipients knew that it was personal help. The first ship with CARE packages docked in Bremerhaven 78 years ago today, on July 15, 1946.
Others also helped
Others also helped
Aid packages also came from other countries: Switzerland, Great Britain, the Vatican, Brazil, Spain and many other church and private organizations donated. It is estimated that Germany received packages worth 1.2 billion marks from abroad after 1945.
The Germans then founded "CARE Germany" in 1981 to pass on the help they received to people in need all over the world.
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