College-Bound Care Package

• For the soon-to-be college freshman, the best care package will involve a lot more than just food. To be certain, his favorite home-baked cookies are a welcome inclusion and a comforting reminder of home. Remember, though, that going off to college should be an exciting affair, and therefore a college care package shouldn't be laden with sentimental, homesickness-inducing artifacts. Keep the favorite foodstuffs (cookies, muffins, etc.), but include items that will instill excitement over things to come, such as a subscription to a magazine oriented toward the recipient's college major or a gift certificate for a home decor/furnishings store. Lastly, don't underestimate the importance of practical things, such as cell phone minutes or supermarket gift cards for food emergencies.
  
  

Moving Away Care Package

• Like the college-bound care package, it might not be the best idea to make the moving away care package an exercise in guilt. Include one or two personal items to remind the individual of home, such as a favorite family or "friends together" photograph, or perhaps some sort of small family heirloom or shared token of friendship. Perhaps even a favorite food item particular to the region they're leaving (such as Vermont maple syrup or Louisiana pralines). From there, help the family member or friend look forward by including things like a subscription to their local newspaper, or a gift certificate to a soon-to-be-local restaurant. Unorthodox as it sounds, a fantastic high-tech gift for the family member or friend who's moving away is a webcam with which to video chat from long distances.
  
  

Military Care Package

• For active duty enlistees, the basics are going to include a lot of necessities which are frequently taken for granted at home. These would include multivitamins (these are particularly important), deodorant, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, shaving supplies, etc. After that, one should aim for comforting offerings, like cookies (possibly not home-baked, for expiration reasons), letters and pictures from home, and luck charms or tokens of special significance.