Marlene Mahta

Without CARE Packages I would not be here today. The packages contained wonderful gifts, like milk powder, flour, etc. which were a godsend to the starving, ragged German civilian population and the refugees from many Eastern European countries after WWII as I grew up in the city of Frankfurt, Germany, which was destroyed. There were also packages filled with precious luxury items like soap, blankets, towels and gently used clothes.

These gifts inspired me more than seventy years ago, when I was still very young, to learn English because I wished to one day meet and even belong to those wonderful people in America, who were so generous. Even helping their former enemies!! I never wanted to be rich or famous and I have achieved what I dreamed and prayed for since I was a child: to become an American and to always have enough so I would be able to be generous.

When I read about all the tragedies happening today, I can really feel what the refugees in camps all over the world have to endure—I've been there. And, like some 70 years ago, Americans are always the first to help. 

Marlene is a regular donor to CARE and has made CARE one of the beneficiaries of her financial accounts, making her a truly generous American.