If you went away to college, you may remember how receiving a box of goodies that smelled like home could immediately take you back to mama’s kitchen. Just the idea that someone was thinking of you enough to pack a box with goodies and send it your way was enough to bring tears to your eyes. And, when they remembered you with such a gift during finals week!– Wow! You could taste the love!
Enter College Care Boxes
Every year, our parish puts aside money in our youth budget for college care boxes. For a few weeks at the beginning of October, we include an announcement about this ministry in our weekly digital newsletter, so that anyone with a college-aged student can provide their most current address and information.
Here’s a sample of what my Google form looked like.
Creating The Care Boxes
Then I hop in my van and have the most fun thinking of all the ways I can spoil students. Here’s a sample of what I put inside our boxes:
- hand sanitizers
- Post-It notes
- flair pen
- disposable masks
- travel tissues
- gum
- miniature bubbles
- Dove chocolate
- beef jerky
- mini Kind bars
- Emergen-C packets
- Rice Krispies treats
- trail mix
- gummy bears
- fruit bars
- microwave popcorn
- Nutella snack packs
- herbal tea
- chocolate espresso beans
- cough drops
- $5 Starbucks gift card
- Stickers and a card that I design on Canva with a note from our pastor and me
We pack these goodies in a Uline 12x9x4 box and ship them via USPS. I try to send them out a week before finals.
Since our congregation knows that we send out these care boxes each year, some parishioners donate towards the boxes, purchase gift cards or offer other fun items.
I want our college students to know that, wherever they are, they are loved and cared for, and that they always have a safe place to come home to their church family.