So I've had a few repeated questions about sending care packages to me or my friends/students here in South Africa. So I thought I'd take some time to address these questions all in one spot. If you have any other questions that I don't cover here in this post, please feel free to comment or email me and I'll be more than willing to share whatever information I have with you.
Tips for shipping packages:
* Try to keep the packages around the size of a shoe box/priority box (or smaller) to limit fees on my end when I pick them up
* Ship them through FedEx, DHL, or USPS. UPS does not directly ship here but they will take your package and ship it through USPS for you.
* Mark the package as "gift" and it drastically reduces my fees for pick up (sometimes making it free for me!)
* When you list the items included, try not to list anything that would "tempt" those handling the package to open it and remove items for themselves. The easiest is to mark it as school supplies. If the shipping office asks for details, just list them from least valuable and up as the labels have a character limit. So only the first few items will actually show on the labels.
* Tape, and double tape, and tape some more! The boxes have quite a journey to go through to get here. So the more tape the less likely it will be damaged.
* Pray before you ship! Not a joke, for realz! Cover the box with prayers and ask God to look over your gift. It gives you a peace of mind and does really make a difference in the shipping process. I always pray over my packages and luggage and I can tell you for certain it matters!
* If you want to get creative, there are TONS of fun ides on Pinterest. Just search "care package".
* There are some pre-made care packages on Amazon.com. But they don't ship to our country. You can have them shipped to your house and reship them yourself. But it may just be easier to make your own care package.
* Don't send anything of value!! Items should be cheap so if they are stolen or "misplaced" along the way, neither of us will be too upset.
* Avoid glass packaging. Don't ship batteries or chemicals (they'll have a list of the no-no items at your shipping center).
* Double bag anything liquid in ziploc bags so they don't leak. It's been suggested that food items be bagged in individual ziplocs as well to prevent leaking and/or smells attracting animals.
Idea of what to include:
* Letters from you! (A cute idea I've seen online is "open when..." letters to help add encouragement on hard days.)
* Fun pencils, bookmarks, erasers, etc for the kids at the school
* Crayons, colored pencils, glue sticks, erasers, dry erase markers, sharpies, etc for the teachers at the school
* Stickers (especially teacher stickers) or teacher stamps and ink
* Fun socks (no show style) in various colors
* American foods: variety cereal packs, cracker packs [lance variety pack is my fav], saltines, ritz bits cheese, cheetos, cookie/brownie mixes, fruit snacks, marshmallows, goldfish crackers, graham crackers, chex mix, pepperoni, jerky, peanut m&ms, easy mac & cheese, rice mix, corn bread mix, biscuit mix, grape jelly, salsa/queso cups, etc
* Dunkin Donuts or Folgers classic coffee grounds, coffeemate (dry) vanilla, cappuccino packets, flavored hot chocolate packets, etc
* Water add-ins (crystal light, true lemon, etc)
* Household items I can't get here (ziploc bags, glad trash bags, magic eraser, cleaning wipes, etc)
* Fun office supplies (colorful pens, post-it notes, mechanical pencils, etc)
* Mailing supplies (stamps, washi tape, envelopes, blank cards, etc)
* Hot hands hand-warmers
* iPhone cables, headphones, etc (these are so expensive here and break easily)
* Medicines: Tylenol, Tylenol PM, Pepto pills, Allergy pills, Icy Hot, Bayer low dose, Bandaids, etc
* Fun stuff: small stuffed animals (tsum tsums, etc), body spray (moonlight path is my fav), lotions, gum (orbit white is my fav), fidget toys for my home/desk, touch screen gloves, anointing oil, photography magazines, devotionals, scrapbook paper, card games, Christian t-shirts (2x), etc
* Fun greeting cards from you to me
* Photos of your family, handmade art, stuff your kid make, etc! I ADORE handmade things!
Mail Care Packages To:
Kristin Freudenthal
PO Box 3241
Jeffreys Bay, EC 6330
ZA
Care Package Ideas via the World Wide Web: