Sunshine Box for College

When my daughter went away to college, she was away from home for the first time and living with a total stranger roomy. I took a page from my Amish friends and made them each a "Sunshine Box." Whenever an Amish person needs a boost with a long recovery from illness or is down about something, the community and family make a Sunshine Box. There is a little gift to open each day for a month.

That is a small gift every day for a month. I wrapped up anything from a couple of packs of gum for each girl to Ramen noodles or spiced cider to pens, mechanical pencils and scratch pads. I put them all in plastic milk crates and they had a little shelf unit after the gifts were finished. It really helped break the ice between the two girls, helped with the homesickness, and they confessed that on bad days they unwrapped more than one little gift.

Though I pretty much did this on my own, the Amish have all of the friends and relatives contribute a little something to the boxes so the person who is a little down or doesn't feel good due to illness or an operation has something to open every day of the recovery. I just wanted to let the girls know how proud we were of them, and that we missed them, too.

It really seemed to help them over a big hump, and helped them to bond for the rest of the year.

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Fran

August 31, 20050 found this helpful

That is a great idea.........thanks for posting it.....

By LeAnn (Guest Post)

August 31, 20050 found this helpful

What a wonderful idea! Thanks so much for sharing it. Its a great inexpensive way to brighten someone's day...for a month no less!
Thanks,
LeAnn

By Claudia (Guest Post)

September 1, 20050 found this helpful

What a thoughtful and creative idea! Sounds like you are a wonderful Mom.

Tifni

September 1, 20050 found this helpful

This seems like it would be good for around the Winter holidays too...for little people & Big people who love surprises.Instead of having 1 day of gift giving..why not little treats for the whole month?

Chuck R.

January 25, 20060 found this helpful

Great idea. Every 4-6 weeks my dad and step-mom woulc come to visit me at college. Each time they would bring a snack bag full of snacks, like Doritos, beef jerky, ramen noodles, and stuff like that.

Also (at Central Michigan U) at the beginnig of each fall semester, the dorm would give all of us a "welcome back box". This box had sample sizes of lots of things, like razors, shampoo, soap, lotion, coffee, deoderant, and lots of coupons. There was one type for guys, one for girls.

By Laurie (Guest Post)

May 24, 20060 found this helpful

I 'LOVE' this idea! Thank You for sharing :)

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