In
1945 the century's bloodiest war ended, but much of Europe was devastated and
millions of survivors were in need. Wallace J. Campbell and his friends, Arthur
Ringland and Lincoln Clark, decided to do something to inspire Americans to help
-- they started Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) and helped
deliver millions of relief packages of food and supplies. This was the birth of
the phrase "care package" and of what was to become one of the world's
largest international development and relief organizations.
Wallace
Campbell had had a lot of experience with cooperatives -- he helped organize the
first student cooperative residence while a student at the University of Oregon
and he worked for the National Cooperative Business Association for over 25 years.
He knew that relief assistance for Europe's war survivors would be much more effective
if relief organizations worked together, so CARE was organized as a cooperative
of more than 20 agencies. Wallace Campbell served CARE for 40 years and was the
organization's president from 1978 to 1986. He helped guide CARE beyond its original
goal of helping to feed the hungry victims of war in Europe, to providing relief
services throughout the world that would help teach people to be self sufficient
and improve their lives. Today CARE USA is one of 10 agencies that make up CARE
International, and CARE has helped more than 1 billion people in 120 countries.
