deziloooooo
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 16:22:04 GMT -5
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Post by deziloooooo on May 14, 2011 11:36:29 GMT -5
This AM I was listening to "old time Radio " on XM Satellite Radio, and it was brought up that the Anniversary of the CARE package and how radio played such a big role in making it what it was , and it's importance.
To recap, from what I remember from the discussion, it was in Feb of 1946, shortly after the war was over, many Americans being who we are, were looking around to see how they individually could help with the suffering in War Torn Europe was at it's height.
Different philanthropy organizations, Religious associations, Red Cross and so many others banded together and pooled what little $ they had available and came up with $75,000, a small amount considering the problem faced, even back then with the value of the $ being so much higher then today.
First year they sent 650 packages out. They had no extra $ for advertising and turned to celebraties to try and get the awareness and message out to the populace, and they came forward with radio spots, even a 15 minute program pushing the program.
For $10 , a person could send a box of goodies to some one in Europe, and these boxes went not just to allies of ours but to families from the Axis powers too.
They , XM, played a 15 minute program, so few still available, featuring the actor who played "The Great Gilder sleeve", telling a story, and another action actor, "Douglas Fairbanks Jr" advertising the program, and then interviewed two people who had actually received Care packages,.
One woman , who was a six year old, a school child , received a CARE package , not of food for the first one, but , given to school kids, white paper, a few pencils, sharpener, a ball for the boys a small doll for the girls, and it awakened a feeling of wonder for her, after wards a nice woman and her family from Buffalo adopted them, Care Package wise, the family, and would send the food packages and the ones with clothing to the family, to the point of wonderment about these Americans , that she wanted to go to America.
As she grew older, while having a boy friend, proposal of marriage, no, she gave that up, ended up in America and with $100 in her pocket made it here, and swore she would make it a success, and she did and has been here over 50 years as a citizen.
I remember as a kid in grammar school, getting the little card board boxes, with a red cross on the out side , and we were to fill them if we wanted to, and there was a list given of acceptable items, I think a pair of socks too was listed, LOL, and we brought back to school filled and they were collected and supposedly sent on.
{I do hope that they are not all sitting in some forgotten Government ware house in the Dakotas to be discovered some day. I guess this woman corrected that assumption, as she did get one, possible mine?}
Another was a German Soldier in a POW camp in France, being used, they volunteered, for mine removal to get more food, they find 40 mines, they go home , all volunteered, figuring survival as good getting mines then trying to survive on 800 calories a day, what was given to them according to the ex POW.
AS Prisoners, they too received Care Packages , and here it took a few days before they were opened, the suspicions of why from a former enemy being given sustenance to the foe , these people as he said, went in the German Army at 17, propaganda toward others took over, couldn't understand the reasoning of these Americans, CARE Package's?
Finally he and a few voiced, these people, these Americans, they care, they are different.
He too came to the states, had to see for himself, a citizen, a former executive for Coca Cola in Atlanta.
Care continues today, now it concentrates on helping woman , third world countries, educate, small business loans,clean drinking water where they, woman don't have to travel miles to a stream, water source, nutrition, things like that, as the woman , who are the back bone of most of the families, they, as they rise in status, education, vocational seem to raise whole family from the depths of poverty. The care package it self, after being discontinued in the 60's came back but now you and I go on line and put it together ourselves as to what it should contain from a list and pay accordingly.
Why posted here, besides recognizing a special anniversity, there is so much talk about stopping foreign aid, can't afford it.
Yet while we voice those thoughts, and it really wouldn't change anything over all in our problems, this aid, if the little aid of care can influence the feelings of people toward our country, even though there is burning of flags, demonstrations of some against us, how about the others, quietly thinking," Those Americans , they are something special", thinking good thoughts toward us, and I believe that .
I know many here don't believe that but lets be honest, the negative vibes here are really over the top and hopefully are not indicative of how the majority of Americans feel about things, because if it is, we are in deep doo doo, deeper than we can imagine. IMHO.
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