Care Package Ideas: What to Send, What You Cannot Mail, and What It Costs

By Autumn Lido, Partner and Chief of Operations, Convenience Kits International

Most care package ideas lists will tell you to send mouthwash and hand sanitizer. If the box is going to a military address, the Postal Service will not carry either one. This guide covers what to put in a care package for a college student, a deployed service member or a new graduate, what USPS prohibits, what postage actually costs, and how to send kits by the case.

What Is a Care Package?

A care package is a box of practical goods sent to one named person who cannot easily get those goods where they are. It is not a gift basket, and the difference goes back to where the name came from.

The first CARE Packages were surplus US Army 10-in-1 rations, built to feed ten soldiers one meal each and stockpiled for an invasion of Japan that never happened¹. CARE delivered the first 15,000 of them at Le Havre, France on May 11, 1946. Ten dollars bought one, with delivery guaranteed within four months¹.

CARE was founded in 1945 by a coalition of 22 American charities, and roughly 100 million parcels followed¹.

Eighty years later the shape of the thing is unchanged. A box of ordinary supplies, chosen for one person, sent to an address where those supplies are hard to get.

CKI sees the modern version constantly. Individual buyers order kits and ship them to service members overseas, usually with a handwritten note tucked in, and what makes it land is that the contents are the same products the recipient used at home².

Care Package Ideas by Recipient

Start with one question: what can this person not easily buy where they are? Everything else follows from the answer. A student two hours from home has a drugstore; someone at a base in the Pacific may not.

A college student

Send the things a student would otherwise have to go buy, and something from home. In a fall 2023 survey of about 300,000 students across 108 US institutions, EdSights found that 11% said they often felt homesick and 45% said they sometimes did, up from 9.6% and 43.6% the previous fall, according to Inside Higher Ed's report on the data³.

Toiletries are items people forget, vacation or not². A student who ran out of shampoo three days ago and has not made it to a store is exactly the person a stocked kit helps. CKI's 10-piece hygiene kit covers the basics in one sealed bag.

Add laundry supplies, snacks that survive a backpack, and a note. The note is the part they keep.

A deployed service member

169,589 active-duty US military personnel were stationed in foreign countries as of December 31, 2025, according to Defense Manpower Data Center figures published by USAFacts⁴. Japan, Germany, South Korea, Italy and the United Kingdom hosted the five largest groups⁴.

That count excludes people on temporary duty and contingency deployments, so more people than that can receive mail at a military address⁴. Where they are posted changes what you are allowed to put in the box, which is the part most senders find out at the counter. Two sections below cover it.

Someone heading out for training, camp or a first long trip

The going-away care package is a smaller job with a clearer answer. One CKI customer bought a men's travel kit for their son before a week-long Boy Scout trip, and it covered everything he needed².

The bag outlives the trip. I keep several going at once, one for first aid, one for nail products, one for cosmetics².

Every liquid in a CKI kit is 3.4 ounces or less, which is what TSA's carry-on rule requires, and the quart-size zip-top bag is part of the kit rather than something the traveler has to remember². The TSA-compliant travel kit guide covers the carry-on rules in full.

What to Put in a Care Package for a Deployed Service Member

Send what the military does not issue. A care package for soldiers is not the same job as a gift for someone at home, because the useful gifts for soldiers are ordinary things that are hard to get where they are posted. Soldiers' Angels, which has run deployed care package programs for two decades, puts it plainly: "Common, everyday items like snacks, razors, or even tampons for women are not easy to come by, nor are they provided by the Military."⁵

Their categories for a deployment care package break down like this⁵:

No chocolate. Soldiers' Angels advises against it outright and tells senders to plan for 10 days to two weeks in transit⁵.

A stocked toiletry kit does a lot of that work in one item, and a sealed one arrives sealed. CKI's 6-piece oral care kit and 14-piece feminine hygiene kit both fit the toiletry line of that table.

Brand matters more here than it does at home. As I put it: "having a brand allows you to feel like you're home when you're away."²

Before you pack any of it, check the destination. Half the items on a normal toiletry shelf cannot legally travel to an APO or FPO address.

What You Cannot Mail to an APO or FPO Address

Alcohol-based liquids are the big one, and they are not what most people picture. Most hand sanitizers, including wipes, contain alcohol, are flammable, and are handled as hazardous materials in the mail⁶. They are limited to ground transportation inside the United States and prohibited to international destinations, including APO, FPO and DPO addresses⁶.

Perfume containing alcohol may not be shipped internationally or mailed domestically by air⁶. Beer, wine and liquor may not be sent through the mail except in limited circumstances⁶.

This is where two good sources disagree, and it is worth naming. Care package item lists are written around what a service member actually wants, and several widely shared ones recommend mouthwash and body spray⁵.

Postal rules govern what can travel. The sender has to satisfy both, and the postal rules are the ones enforced at the counter.

USPS also publishes per-destination restriction codes for overseas military and diplomatic mail⁷:

Which codes apply depends on the specific APO, FPO or DPO ZIP code, not on the country and not on some national rule⁷. A box to one destination can carry summer sausage; a box to another cannot.

Aerosols sit in a gray band. USPS treats gases and aerosols as restricted rather than banned outright, and points to Publication 52 as the governing document on mailability⁶. Military mail moves by air, so the air transportation rules are what bind in practice, and the simple answer is to leave pressurized cans out.

Do this instead of memorizing any of it: USPS runs an APO/FPO/DPO restrictions tool that takes a ZIP code and a mailing date and returns the conditions and restrictions for that destination⁸. Type the ZIP before you buy anything.

The list also moves. Effective April 2, 2026, USPS redefined Restrictions B, I, I1 and I2 for mail addressed to or from military and diplomatic Post Office facilities⁹. A care package checklist printed off two years ago is not current.

One honest note about our own products: some travel kits contain alcohol-based items. Check the contents of any kit, ours included, against the destination ZIP before you mail it to a military address.

How to Actually Ship It: Forms, Boxes, Cost and Deadlines

Military mail is domestic postage on an international journey, which is why it needs a customs declaration. Anyone sending a package to an APO, FPO or MPO ZIP code must create a customs form online or fill out PS Form 2976-R before going to the retail counter, where the clerk creates the label¹⁰.

Addressing is the second thing people get wrong. An overseas military address carries the APO or FPO designation where the city normally goes, and a two-character abbreviation of AE, AP or AA where the state normally goes, plus the ZIP or ZIP+4¹¹. AE covers armed forces in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Canada, AP covers the Pacific, and AA covers the Americas excluding Canada¹¹.

The delivery line has its own requirement. It must include the military address type with its assigned number, meaning CPR, OPC, PSC, UPR or UNIT, plus a box number¹¹. Shipping guidance consistently warns senders not to add the foreign city or country name, though that instruction does not appear in the two sections of USPS Publication 28 that set the format.

Then the box. The Priority Mail Flat Rate APO/FPO Box measures 12-1/4 by 12 by 6 inches on the outside and costs $32.55 as of August 2026, which USPS describes as a $1.45 per-box discount on its largest Priority Mail Flat Rate Box for military and diplomatic destinations¹².

Almost nobody knows about the free kit. USPS offers a Military Care Kit at no charge for shipping to APO, FPO and DPO addresses, holding Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes, address labels, tape and customs forms, orderable at usps.com/shop or by calling 800-610-8734¹³.

Flat rate boxes are free from USPS on their own too, usually arriving with regular mail within 7 to 10 days, and Priority Mail carries up to 70 pounds at the same flat rate price¹⁴. Order the supplies two weeks before you plan to mail anything.

Prices are moving right now. USPS applied an 8% temporary increase across Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage and Parcel Select, in effect from April 26, 2026 through January 17, 2027, citing higher fuel and contracted transportation costs¹⁵. Check usps.com for the current figure rather than trusting any price on any guide, this one included.

Holiday deadlines are the last piece, and the military dates are nothing like the domestic ones. For 2026, USPS recommends November 4 for USPS Ground Advantage to APO, FPO and DPO addresses, December 9 for First-Class Mail and Priority Mail, and December 16 for Priority Mail Express Military Service¹⁶. The domestic dates are December 17 for Ground Advantage and First-Class Mail, December 18 for Priority Mail and December 19 for Priority Mail Express¹⁶.

USPS publishes the list each fall at usps.com/holiday, so check it again in future years. The gap is the thing to remember: six weeks between the military ground date and the domestic one.

Graduation Care Packages, and What to Give a Guy Who Is Moving Out

Search graduation gifts for guys and you will mostly find things he already owns. The useful gift is the one he will need in the first week of whatever comes next and would not think to buy.

US graduation gift spending is expected to reach a record $7.2 billion in 2026, with 39% of survey respondents planning to buy a gift for a high school or college graduate, according to the National Retail Federation's annual survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics¹⁷. Cash is again the single most-given gift¹⁷.

Read that as a design brief. A physical gift is competing against a card with money in it, so it has to be something the graduate would otherwise have to go out and buy.

There is a version of this CKI watches every spring. Men's deluxe hygiene kits sell heavily as graduation gifts at military bases in May and June through the base exchange system². The recurring buyer profiles look like this: parents of military school, high school and college graduates, mothers buying for a son in the military and then for his whole unit, teachers buying for students, and travel agencies thanking clients².

Prices as of October 2026, from CKI's own catalog¹⁸:

A stocked men's kit runs roughly $8 to $17, and the premium bag versions run to about $49¹⁸. The bag is the part that outlasts the trip.²

Timing is worth knowing if you are buying for a class rather than a person. The number of US high school graduates is projected to peak in 2025 and then decline steadily through 2041, a drop of about 13% from the peak, according to WICHE's Knocking at the College Door¹⁹. Graduating classes will not get bigger than they are now.

Buying for one graduate? Start with the budget travel kits or build a custom kit around what he actually uses.

Care Packages for Veterans and Outreach Programs

Veterans care packages usually go through a program rather than to a mailbox, and the program has rules. 32,495 veterans were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2025, a 1% decrease from 2024 and the lowest figure on record, down about 56% since 2009, per HUD's Point-in-Time count²⁰.

CKI works with dozens of nonprofit agencies serving veterans who are homeless or permanently displaced². The kits get used before agency interviews. Brushing your teeth, combing your hair and shaving before you walk into that room is the entire point.

What goes in the kit is not a detail to these buyers. Many nonprofit agencies buy from CKI specifically because CKI does not use off-brand product². One nonprofit client asked us to leave out a particular institutional off-brand of toothpaste, because that brand is what recipients were issued during incarceration and in drug rehabilitation, and the smell of it puts them back there².

Ben's framing for why a recognizable brand is worth the difference: receiving brands they know and trust "gives them greater dignity, that they matter."² He handed kits to men on a grate in Washington DC one winter, and six months later they still had the black unbreakable comb².

Agencies also run Thanksgiving and holiday events where guests are welcomed and given a gift, and premium men's and women's kits in deluxe bags are often that gift².

Before you ship anything to any organization, ask them. Operation Gratitude has delivered more than 4 million care packages to service members, veterans and first responders over more than 23 years, mobilizes more than 250,000 volunteers a year, and as of August 2026 states plainly that it is no longer accepting in-kind donations²¹.

An organization that has shipped more than 4 million care packages will not take donated product. That is not a reason to stop; it is a reason to call first.

CKI's Good Work program handles the nonprofit buying side, and giving the gift of personal hygiene covers the donor side. If you are running a hygiene drive or supplying a shelter, the bulk hygiene kits guide is the right page instead of this one.

What a Care Package Costs

Postage is usually the biggest line item, which surprises almost everyone. One large flat rate box to an APO or FPO address costs $32.55 as of August 2026¹², and that is more than the retail price of most individual CKI travel and hygiene kits, which run from $2.50 in case quantities up to $49.00 for a 30-piece premium kit in a leather bag^{18, 22}.

Once postage is fixed, the logic flips: fill the box. Travel sizes are the efficient answer, because a fixed volume holds more useful items when nothing in it is a full-size bottle.

There are three ways to do this, at three prices:

Freedom Alliance requires recipients to be deployed overseas with at least three months left on the deployment²⁴. A kit is a component of any of these, not a competitor to them.

For volume, CKI's per-kit prices as of October 2026 look like this^{22, 25}:

Those are per-kit prices inside a case, not single-unit prices, and case pack sizes vary a lot between items^{22, 25}.

The most common pricing mistake is adding up what the pieces would cost separately. Ben: buyers "add up the components and they say, oh this isn't so valuable to me. What they fail to see is that what the customer is looking for is convenience. It's an impulse buy and it has everything all in one package. That's the value."²

There is a real tier decision underneath the price. Hygiene kits run from sachets and single-use packets, through unbranded hotel sizes, up to national brands the recipient recognizes, and a kit built from no-name product at two to three dollars is a different object from one built with brands people keep at home². The recipient reads the difference.

Seven Mistakes People Make Sending Care Packages

1. Packing from an item list without checking the postal rules. Mouthwash, hand sanitizer and body spray appear on popular lists and cannot travel to a military address⁶. Check the ZIP in the USPS restrictions tool first⁸.
2. Arriving at the counter without a customs form. PS Form 2976-R or an online customs form has to exist before the clerk can create the label, and doing it at home avoids the counter delay¹⁰.
3. Addressing it like a normal package. APO or FPO replaces the city, AE, AP or AA replaces the state, and the delivery line needs the unit designation with its number and a box number¹¹.
4. Planning around the domestic holiday calendar. In 2026 the military Ground Advantage date is November 4 against December 17 domestically, a six-week gap¹⁶. By the time holiday shipping is in the news, the military ground date has passed.
5. Sending chocolate. Plan for 10 days to two weeks in transit and send shelf-stable items only, because melted chocolate coats everything else in the box⁵.
6. Paying by weight. Priority Mail flat rate charges the same price up to 70 pounds regardless of contents and USPS supplies the boxes free, so a personal box priced by weight and zone usually costs more¹⁴.
7. Shipping goods to an organization that did not ask for them. Operation Gratitude no longer accepts in-kind donations, and unrequested product creates a sorting and storage problem rather than help²¹. Ask first, every time.

Sending Care Packages at Scale: Units, Drives and Organizations

Buying for a unit, a program or a drive is a different job, and it starts with the same instruction as above: confirm the receiving organization wants goods before you buy any.

Two customization thresholds answer two different questions. CKI states a minimum of 15 kits to customize a travel kit's contents, and custom logo printing on the bag starts at 100 kits^{25, 26}. The Good Work program assembles customizable kits from an inventory of 300 travel-size items and 32 bag styles²⁶.

Case pricing steps down in tiers: 1 case, 2 to 9 cases, 10 to 49 cases, and 50 or more, with orders of 100 or more and 200 or more cases flagged for a conversation about customization and additional discounts²⁷.

Lead time is the question worth asking before you need the answer. Kits already in stock ship within 48 hours and often within 24, and when new kits have to be produced CKI can build 4,000 to 6,000 in a day, double that across two shifts². After a hurricane, a Florida relief organization needed hygiene kits for an entire community and CKI shipped 2,000 within 24 hours².

Ask about drop shipping too. Drop shipping is when the supplier delivers directly to each of your locations instead of to one warehouse, and it is a question that comes almost exclusively from agencies and companies running several sites who would rather not pay freight twice².

Order earlier than feels necessary in the fourth quarter. Retail partners describe the December holidays as one of the biggest gifting periods for travel kits, and production and shipping both get busier then².

Ready to price a quantity? Order in bulk, build a custom travel kit, or start from a bulk custom hygiene pack. Corporate gifting to employees or clients has its own rules and its own page: the custom branded kits guide.

What to Send, by Situation

For a college student, send the things they would otherwise have to go buy and something from home: toiletries, laundry supplies, snacks that survive a backpack, and a note. A stocked 10-piece hygiene kit covers the part most senders forget.

For a deployed service member, type the destination ZIP into the USPS restrictions tool before you buy anything. Then send what the military does not issue: shelf-stable snacks, socks, batteries and toiletries with no alcohol in them. Leave out the hand sanitizer, the mouthwash and the chocolate.

For a graduate or someone moving out, pick the thing he will need in the first week and would not buy himself. A stocked men's kit runs roughly $8 to $17, and the bag outlasts the trip. Start with the budget travel kits, or build a custom kit around what he actually uses.

For a unit, a classroom or a drive, ask the receiving organization what it wants before you buy, then price by the case rather than by the kit. Bulk ordering covers quantities, customization and lead times.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a care package?

A care package is a box of practical goods sent to a specific person who cannot easily get those goods where they are. The name comes from CARE, founded in 1945 by a coalition of 22 American charities. The first 15,000 CARE Packages were surplus US Army 10-in-1 rations delivered at Le Havre, France on May 11, 1946, and ten dollars bought one¹.

What can you not send in a care package to a soldier?

Alcohol-based liquids, including hand sanitizer, mouthwash and perfume, are prohibited to APO, FPO and DPO addresses⁶. So are alcoholic beverages under restriction code R, tobacco under C, e-cigarettes and nicotine liquids under C2, and at many destinations pork and pork by-products under H1 and obscene or non-authorized political material under E2⁷. Aerosols are restricted and military mail travels by air. Restrictions vary by ZIP code, so check the USPS APO/FPO/DPO restrictions tool⁸.

How much does it cost to mail a care package to a deployed service member?

$32.55 for the Priority Mail Flat Rate APO/FPO box as of August 2026, which USPS describes as a $1.45 discount on its largest flat rate box for military and diplomatic destinations¹². The box itself is free, as is the USPS Military Care Kit, which ships with boxes, labels, tape and customs forms and can be ordered by calling 800-610-8734¹³. USPS is running a temporary 8% price adjustment on Priority Mail through January 17, 2027, so check the current price¹⁵.

Do you need a customs form to send a care package to an APO address?

Yes. Anyone sending a package to an APO, FPO or MPO ZIP code must create a customs form online or complete PS Form 2976-R before going to the retail counter¹⁰. Military mail is domestic postage on an international journey, and the declaration is what moves it through the gateway.

When should you mail a holiday care package to a military address?

Much earlier than a domestic package. For 2026, USPS recommends November 4 for Ground Advantage to APO, FPO and DPO addresses, December 9 for First-Class Mail and Priority Mail, and December 16 for Priority Mail Express Military Service, against domestic dates of December 17, December 18 and December 19¹⁶. USPS publishes the dates each fall at usps.com/holiday.

What is a good graduation gift for a guy?

Something he will need in the first week of whatever comes next and would not buy himself. US graduation gift spending is expected to reach a record $7.2 billion in 2026, with 39% of people planning to buy a gift and cash the most common one, so a physical gift is competing with a card¹⁷. A stocked men's travel or grooming kit runs roughly $8 to $17, and the premium bag versions run to about $49¹⁸.

How do you send care packages to a whole unit or run a care package drive?

Buy by the case, and confirm the receiving organization wants goods before shipping anything²¹. CKI kits run from $2.50 per kit in a case of 50 up to premium kits, with case pricing tiers at 1, 2 to 9, 10 to 49 and 50 or more cases^{22, 27}. Customizing contents starts at 15 kits and logo printing at 100 kits^{25, 26}, and kits already in stock ship within 48 hours and often within 24².

Send a Kit That Arrives Sealed

Convenience Kits International has been packing travel and hygiene kits for 35+ years and has sold more than 50 million of them². Kits are pre-assembled and quality-checked, double-sealed and leak-resistant, with honest item counts, meaning the piece count on the label matches what is in the bag².

Buying one gift? Start with the budget travel kits or the 10-piece hygiene kit, and call 800-859-KITS with questions about what is in a specific kit.

Buying for a unit, a classroom, a program or a drive? Order in bulk or build your own kit from 300 travel-size items and 32 bag styles. Call 800-255-5436 to talk through quantities, customization, drop shipping and lead times.

Sources

1. CARE, 1946. The Original CARE Package: surplus US Army 10-in-1 rations, the first 15,000 packages delivered at Le Havre, France on May 11, 1946, the ten dollar price with a four-month delivery guarantee, the 1945 founding by 22 American charities, and roughly 100 million parcels delivered. https://www.care.org/about-us/our-history/care-package/
2. Convenience Kits International, first-party practitioner interview, August 2026. Individual donors shipping kits to service members overseas; toiletries as the forgotten item; the Boy Scout trip kit; the bag outliving the trip; 3.4 ounce liquids and the quart-size bag; Autumn Lido on familiar brands; graduation gifts at military bases in May and June; recurring buyer profiles; veterans agencies and pre-interview use; institutional off-brands and Ben Lido on dignity; the comb; holiday events; Ben Lido on component pricing; kit tiers; production and ship times; the Florida hurricane response; drop shipping; December gifting seasonality; and the five approved claims.
3. EdSights fall 2023 data, reported by Inside Higher Ed, 2024. Homesickness among roughly 300,000 students across 108 US institutions: 11% often and 45% sometimes, against 9.6% and 43.6% the previous fall. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/health-wellness/2024/02/02/soothing-homesick-college-students-support
4. USAFacts, 2025, analysis of Defense Manpower Data Center data. 169,589 active-duty US military personnel stationed in foreign countries as of December 31, 2025, the five largest host countries, and the exclusions from that count. https://usafacts.org/articles/where-are-us-military-members-stationed-and-why/
5. Soldiers' Angels, 2026. Items not provided by the military, care package item categories for deployed service members, the 10 days to two weeks transit expectation, shelf-stable and no-chocolate guidance, and flat rate box packing practice. https://soldiersangels.org/what-to-include-in-a-care-package/
6. USPS, 2026. Shipping Restrictions and HAZMAT: alcohol-based hand sanitizer as hazardous material limited to ground transportation domestically and prohibited to international and APO/FPO/DPO destinations, perfume containing alcohol, alcoholic beverages, and gases and aerosols as restricted under Publication 52. https://www.usps.com/ship/shipping-restrictions.htm
7. USPS Postal Bulletin 22688, 2025. Overseas Military/Diplomatic Mail pull-out: restriction codes C, C2, E2, H1, R and R1, and the fact that applicable codes depend on the destination APO, FPO or DPO ZIP code. https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2025/pb22688/html/apo.htm
8. USPS Retail Postage Price Calculator, 2026. APO/FPO/DPO Restrictions tool returning conditions and restrictions on content, preparation and handling by destination ZIP code and mailing date. https://postcalc.usps.com/MilitaryRestrictions/Index
9. USPS Postal Bulletin 22699, 2026. Military Mail notice: Restrictions B, I, I1 and I2 redefined effective April 2, 2026 for mail addressed to or from military and diplomatic Post Office facilities. https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2026/pb22699/html/info_003.htm
10. USPS, 2026. Military & Diplomatic Mail: the requirement to create a customs form online or complete PS Form 2976-R before the retail counter creates the label. https://www.usps.com/ship/apo-fpo-dpo.htm
11. USPS Publication 28, Postal Addressing Standards, sections 225 and 238, 2026. APO and FPO designations, the AE, AP and AA abbreviations and their coverage, the ZIP requirement, and the CPR, OPC, PSC, UPR and UNIT delivery-line requirement. https://pe.usps.com/text/pub28/28c2_010.htm
12. USPS Postal Store, 2026. Priority Mail Flat Rate APO/FPO Box: outside dimensions of 12-1/4 by 12 by 6 inches, $32.55, and the $1.45 per-box discount for APO, FPO and DPO destinations worldwide. https://store.usps.com/store/product/shipping-supplies/priority-mail-flat-rate-apofpo-box-P_MILI_FRB
13. USPS, 2026. U.S. Postal Facts: Military Care Kit, free of charge, containing Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes, address labels, tape and customs forms, orderable at usps.com/shop or by phone at 800-610-8734. https://facts.usps.com/military-care-kit/
14. USPS, 2026. Priority Mail: free flat rate boxes delivered with regular mail usually within 7 to 10 days, the 70 pound maximum, and the same flat rate price regardless of weight within that limit. https://www.usps.com/ship/priority-mail.htm
15. Federal News Network, 2026, reporting the USPS filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission. An 8% temporary price increase on Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage and Parcel Select from April 26, 2026 through January 17, 2027. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/agency-oversight/2026/03/usps-seeks-temporary-surcharge-on-packages-to-cover-surging-fuel-costs/
16. USPS, 2026 Holiday Shipping Deadlines, 2026. Recommended 2026 send-by dates for military (APO, FPO and DPO) and contiguous US mail by service. https://www.usps.com/holiday/holiday-shipping-dates.htm
17. National Retail Federation, 2026, annual graduation survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Record $7.2 billion in expected graduation gift spending, 39% of respondents planning to buy a gift, and cash as the most-given gift. https://nrf.com/research-insights/holiday-data-and-trends/graduation
18. Convenience Kits International, 2026. Travel kits category listing: item numbers, piece counts, featured brands and prices for men's, women's, baby, youth and teen kits. https://www.conveniencekits.com/products/travel-kits/
19. Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, Knocking at the College Door, 11th edition, 2024. US high school graduates projected to peak in 2025 and decline about 13% through 2041. https://www.wiche.edu/knocking/key-findings/graduates/
20. HUD 2025 Point-in-Time Count, reported by The American Legion, 2025 data. 32,495 veterans experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2025, a 1% decrease from 2024, the lowest figure on record, and down about 56% since 2009. https://www.legion.org/information-center/news/homeless-veterans/2026/june/hud-point-in-time-count-shows-slight-decrease-in-homeless-veterans
21. Operation Gratitude, 2026. More than 4 million care packages delivered over more than 23 years, more than 250,000 volunteers a year, the $25 giving prompt, and the statement that the organization is no longer accepting in-kind donations. https://www.operationgratitude.com/
22. Convenience Kits International, 2026. Hygiene kits category listing: per-kit and case pricing for budget, standard and unisex kits, the oral care and feminine kits, and the stated 15-kit customization minimum for travel kits. https://www.conveniencekits.com/products/hygiene-kits/
23. Hero Care Packages, 2026. Ready-made care package collection: ten assembled military care packages priced from $45.00 to $155.00, with free shipping over $50. https://herocarepackages.com/collections/ready-made-care-packages
24. Freedom Alliance, 2026. Gifts from Home Care Packages: $35 per care package sent to a deployed service member, hundreds of thousands shipped, and the requirement that recipients be deployed overseas with at least three months remaining. https://freedomalliance.org/military-support-programs/gifts-from-home-care-packages/
25. Convenience Kits International, 2026. Budget travel kits listing: per-kit prices, case prices and case pack sizes, and the 100-kit custom logo threshold. https://www.conveniencekits.com/products/budget-travel-kits/
26. Convenience Kits International, 2026. Good Work program page: per-kit and case pricing for nonprofit buyers, the 100-kit custom logo threshold, and custom assembly from 300 travel-size items and 32 bag styles. https://www.conveniencekits.com/good-work/
27. Convenience Kits International, 2026. Bulk ordering page: tiered case pricing at 1 case, 2 to 9 cases, 10 to 49 cases and 50 or more cases, with 100 or more and 200 or more cases flagged for customization and discount discussion. https://www.conveniencekits.com/kits_bulk_ordering/