Care Packages for Final Exams Raise Funds at Oregon College

Pacific University has found a delectable and profitable way for parents to give their son or daughter away at college a boost to get them through their finals, while at the same time helping the Parents Club Scholarship Fund.

Helen E. Lewis, Pacific’s director of university relations, sends an invitation to all parents of current students a few weeks before examination time, suggesting that they send $10 for a “care package” to be given out during finals week.

Lewis usually receives quick responses from many parents and sometimes grandparents. Messages are then sent to the students telling them when and where to go on campus to receive “a special package that has been delivered in your name.”

“I’m pleased with the program,” Lewis says. “Students are served, and leftover funds from the project, usually about $150 each time, are placed in the Parents Club Scholarship Fund. Most students are surprised, and all have been happy with their care packages and support from home.”