ideas for college care packages?

[gasman61]

I am in charge of gathering items for care packages to send to the college kids from our church. There are 30-35 kids we'll be buying for, and I can spend about $10-$15 per kid, which has to include the shipping.

Do you guys have some good ideas for things to include? Last year we sent them ramon noodles, hot choc packs, a few small toys.. those sorts of things.

I think we are aiming to get these out the 1st week in December, so I have some time. I am going to look for after-Halloween sales to get some good deals on candy. But I am looking for some other ideas.

Thanks so much!

Karen

 

[Malisa]

ahh I hated Ramen in college but now a couple years later I like it.

But anyways I'll just list some things I would like: anything chocolate, energy drinks, vitamin water, easy mac, popcorn, highlighters, post it notes, stress squeezy balls, gum

And I can't really think of that much stuff but maybe that'll help.

 

[jenlynn0808]

Movie Night- some micro pocorn, the big boxes of candy (you can find these for $1 or less) and either a movie out of the bargain bin at walmart or Target, or a gift card for BlockBuster, Hollywood Video, etc,

Poker (os Just call it Card Games) and put in a new deck of cards, chips, Pretzels.

Puzzlers- Crosswords, Sudoko, Word Searches (you can find these type of books at Dollar Tree or sometimes in the dollar bins at Target)

Spa-bath pillow, bubble bath, new pouff, bath salts, etc.

Pedicure/manicure- gather the supplies needed and some pretty nailpolish colors.

Lots of this stuff you could find relatively inexpensively using coupons and sales, hitting Walmart/ Target/Dollar Store.

HTH

 

[ZiPaD3doDAH]

powder flavors for water
popcorn bags
possibly a movie for all to share
laundry detergent

 

[deva]

Granola bars, Pop Tarts, dried fruit mix, cheese & crackers (the 6 pack of square ones, not real cheese), squirty cheese in a can and pretzels, fruit roll ups, Oreos, nuts.

 

[Hannathy]

Those warm delight little desserts for the microwave that you just add water to the bowl. Hot Choc, teas, coffees, those ind. serving of powder to add to water for ice tea or lemonade,pop corn, cookies, snack cakes, jerky, Easy Mac, twizzlers, gum, and quarters.

 

[Sagginit]

as someone who was in college just a few years ago...food,food and more food. seriously getting a box full of food when you are living off a dining hall is well, like a gift from heaven i still remember the excitement of opening up someone's care package in the mail center. popcorn is awesome, ships well everyone eats it. granola bars, candy for late night studying, most students have brita filters and powder water flavors may seem logical, but i didnt know anyone who used them, maybe because you got all the juice/soda you wanted in the dining hall. quaters are great, laundry, vending machines, photocopies, you name it you need them. most students i know ate ramen noodles and ezmac out of neccessity so that works too. packs of peanut butter are good too, i used to keep a jar to put on fruit that i would get from the dining hall (and some students took bread from the dining hall for sandwiches too). hot chocolate, coffee and tea too (although coffee depends on if they have something to make it in). happy packing, im sure they will appreciate whatever you send them.

 

[santa's surpriz]

i used to send my neice Clinique bonus gifts. Macy's gift time is now, so unwanted items...clean socks, laundry deterergent packets, McD gift cards,etc.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Our church learned that popcorn will kill you on postage!

We have sent:
hot chocolate
candy
gum


With that much per child, I would do a gift card. Maybe pizza so they can order in!

 

[charming23]

My cousins just went away to college and I have been struggling with what to send them as well. I came uo with these ideas so I hope they help you.

Packets of easy mac macaroni and cheese.
Post its or magnetic list pads
Candy
100 calorie packs of snack
powdered drink mixes
individual oatmeal packs

 

[Hoppy]

Last year in my daughter's dorm there was a student receiving baked goods every week from his mom. The kids went nutz!

I managed to send homemade cookies twice last year. Packed them in pringles cans and then the cans in a box.

USPS has fixed rate boxes...something like $10 for a box a little bigger than a shirt box. If you're mailing small heavy items the fixed rate is great.

I used Fed-Ex a couple of times and will continue to use them as they provide a tracking number which I could give my daughter. She could watch it online and know when the delivery had been made to the mail center. She no longer has to wait days for the mailing center to leave her a pickup notice

Her requests were always baked goods and chocolate. I can't tell you how much of the "crap" from the care packages I hauled home at the end of the school year! This year she's only getting edibles.

 

[eatatmidnight]

This thread had a lot of good suggestions. You may get some ideas from it.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1952533&highlight=college+package

One thing my son asked for when we were there for family week end was good toilet paper. Maybe you could enclose a roll in each box.

 

[AndreaDM]

I just sent my daughter a box of food, that and money for laundry is all she requested. No bath products unless it's shower gel, most dorms don't have tubs, only showers, so no place or time for a leisurely soak.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

we sent her a subscription to our hometown newspaper..it was cheap. We also sent some seasonal vinyl window clings and some cute seasonal things for her door. We sent food, quarters, a gift card for pizza, gas card (she had a car), money, a pillowcase with messages from us written on it in fabric markers (our cats even put their paw prints on it). Good luck!

 

[The Moonk's Mom]

I have two nephews in college that I send packages too and you can't miss if you head to the dollar store.

I can get them all kinds of stuff.

Gum and mints have been a huge hit
powder drink mix
candy and more candy
post it notes
pens
crackers
noodle soup..not ramen but a little better I think...can't rember the brand


they like getting anything really!

 

[tink576]

A nice batch of homemade cookies! Our the ladies at our church all bake batches of cookies and then they send the college students packages with a couple of each kind.

 

[Shleedogg]

FOOD! I graduated in 2005, and I loved getting care packages with food...especially homemade cookies. My grandma would send some every couple of months and they never lasted long. Put a piece of bread in with the cookies, it keeps them fresh longer.

Pens, pencils, highlighters, easy mac, post its, those sticky colored bookmark tabs, stuff to hang posters with, dry erase board/markers, paper clips, binder clips. All that office supply stuff is stuff you need but don't want to spend your money on, lol. Nail polish, I remember spending a lot of time doing my nails in college. Shower flip flops. The Old Navy ones are perfect and should be on sale, very cheap, right now. Travel mug with tea/hot chocolate. Scarf, hat, gloves... I was constantly losing mine.

How sweet of you!

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

This might be good only for freshman, but it could be made in bulk for cheap. One of my dear friends from HS sent this to me when I was a college freshman and she was a wise old sophomore at another college.

The basic kit was a small hard plastic bin that is used for organizing desk drawers, etc. It was wrapped with cellophane and a bow to keep everything in the bin.

Along all of the slats on the sides, she had clipped safety pins of varying sizes. Inside, there were some hot chocolate packs, a little stapler with staples, paper clips, some rubber bands, a little sewing kit, a few bandaids, some individually wrapped Halls cough drops and a little bottle of extra strength Tylenol. For the most part, it was filled with odds and ends that you typically have "at home", but might not think about at college until you needed them immediately.

I still remember waking up with a sore throat and remembering that I had those Halls cough drops and Tylenol.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

Am I understanding that the postage has to come out of the $10, right? Sadly, The postage is what will use up most of your money. ;-(

I'd focus on light weight items -- a gift card is always appreciated and won't weigh much. How about print a list of jokes off the internet -- free and there again, won't weigh much. How about getting some volunteers to write a card or a short letter to include? I'd go for cheap candy after Halloween.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

I don't have an avon catalog but I saw my sister's last weekend. They had some adorable winter holiday chapsticks and small lotions for 75 cents is you bought 5. Very cute.