World Care is an independent, secular, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to raising consciousness in the local and international arenas of education, health, environment, and community service. World Care strives to create opportunities for those who are less fortunate by providing them the necessary supplies required for self-sustainability. By innovatively converting surplus and supply into valuable resources, World Care utilizes all received donations - both monetary and in-kind - to their maximum humanitarian relief potential. In doing so, World Care also has a large environmental impact, successfully diverting those supplies from premature and unnecessary disposal at area landfills.
World Care reaches out to the local, national and international communities in a variety of ways and provides an array of services. With the generous support of World Care volunteers and donors, the World Care "Tools Programs"- Tools for Earth, Tools for Emergency Relief, Tools for Health, and Tools for Schools- help thousands of individuals locally and around the globe.
World Care recognizes the strong potential of an engaged and enlightened civic society. As a civilian-based relief organization, World Care believes in empowering the public and provides an avenue for which people can volunteer and donate their time or other resources in an effective and efficient manner. In the same way, World Care works collaboratively with other non-profits to help them achieve their goals of servicing those in need and partners with other organizations and institutions in the areas of humanitarian research.
World Care’s History
The story of World Care began in 1993, when a group of healthcare workers from Washington D.C. traveled to Guatemala on a feasibility analysis project to identify the health conditions and the type of technology needed in rural health facilities. In this specialized team of four was Lisa Hopper, who after a thorough analysis of the present conditions, realized that the real need was not for the complex medical technology, but for the very basic life nurturing necessities such as food, shelter and most importantly - education.
On her return to Guatemala for the final evaluation with the medical team, Lisa also personally brought school supplies and distributed them to the villagers. This thoughtful gesture became a habit and in subsequent trips Lisa provided children with school supplies in Venezuela, India, Mexico, and several countries in Central America. The supplies were garnered through small donations and by recycling school materials. After her move to Tucson, AZ in 1994, Lisa’s simple humanitarian effort continued and was soon translated into World Care.
In 1996, World Care was launched as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in Arizona. World Care thus began its first program in the area of education and labeled its school supply drive Tools for Schools. In its first year, World Care's Tools for Schools project supported 200 schoolchildren. By 2004, World Care supported over 25,000 children, 268 schools and countless teachers in Arizona. Tools for Schools has been reaching out into other states and countries over the several years, helping others get textbooks and basic school supplies through their local organizations.
With the help of generous individuals who believed in the World Care vision, the organization grew. World Care Board Members and volunteers donated countless hours, professional skills and monetary resources that enabled World Care to expand its efforts into additional categories. Other "Tools" programs were born; Tools for Earth, Tools for Emergency Relief, and Tools for Health. With all of its activities, the philosophy of recycling and reusing valuable resources lies at the core of World Care operations. To date, World Care occupies the former Julia Keen Elementary School through a partnership with the Tucson Unified School District. The 10 acre facility allows World Care to categorize all in-kind donations and provides working space for hundreds of volunteers who would like to help others in need. In addition, the site houses World Care’s own book and thrift store – selling low-cost books and other goods to the general public and providing an additional source of revenue for the organization which is channeled back to relief efforts.
