Many of us enjoy sending - and receiving - "care packages" of various
culinary goodies and such...

Who do you send them to...???

What do you include in them...???

Longest distance one of your care packages has travelled...or most exotic
destination...???

Etc....???

I almost submitted this to the official RFC site, but what the hey, I guess
this will be an "unofficial" survey - I intend no slight to our
indefatigable Chatty Cathy...

;-)

Some interesting history, CARE is still extant and very active. Check out
the contents of the first CARE packages! :

http://www.care.org/about/history.asp


"History:

CARE is one of the world's largest private humanitarian organizations.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, we're part of an international
confederation of 11 member organizations committed to helping communities in
the developing world achieve lasting victories over poverty.

The scope of our mission has changed considerably since our founding in
1945, when 22 American organizations came together to rush lifesaving CARE
Packages to survivors of World War II. Thousands of Americans, including
President Harry S. Truman contributed to the effort. (Get QuickTime to watch
this video of the president.) On May 11, 1946, 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.


Our Name

We've always been known by the acronym "CARE," but the meaning behind the
letters has changed as our mission has broadened. When we were founded in
1945, CARE stood for "Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe."
Today, with projects in more than 60 countries around the world, CARE stands
for "Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Inc."


The CARE Package®

"Every CARE Package is a personal contribution to the world peace our nation
seeks. It expresses America's concern and friendship in a language all
peoples understand."

- President John F. Kennedy, 1962


The first CARE Packages were U.S. Army surplus "10-in-1" food parcels
intended to provide one meal for 10 soldiers during the planned invasion of
Japan. We obtained them at the end of World War II and began a service that
let Americans send the packages to friends and families in Europe, where
millions were in danger of starvation. Ten dollars [about US $90.00 in 2008
dollars] bought a CARE Package and guaranteed that its addressee would
receive it within four months.

When the "10-in-1" parcels ran out, we began assembling our own food
packages, greatly assisted by donations from American companies. At first,
senders had to designate a specific person as the recipient, but soon CARE
was flooded with donations to send CARE Packages to "a hungry occupant of a
thatched cottage," "a school teacher in Germany," and so on.

Decades ago, we largely phased out the CARE Package as we expanded the
breadth of our work, focusing on long-term projects in addition to emergency
relief. However, it remains a powerful symbol of the compassion and
generosity of those who support our vision of a world free of poverty and
suffering.


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

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

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