Care Package to Orphanage

I sent out a care package to our daughter's orphanage last week. I am praying praying praying that it reaches her before we do! If you are adopting and wish to send a care package, these are the items that I sent and a few tips that I learned before sending:

Two disposable cameras - take a picture of your name and address in case the camera is given to the wrong family. Tape the child's name ( in Chinese) to the camera.

Photo album - include pictures of your family, your home, the baby's room, pets, etc. to familiarize her with her new home.

Questions for the Nanny- I literally cut and pasted the questions that I had translated into a small journal. I did this in hopes that the Nanny might be more likely to answer the questions. I taped our daughter's picture inside the journal and thanked the nanny for any info that she could provide.

Gift for the Nanny - I included chocolates and some peppermint lip balm for the nanny.

Blanket - I washed in baby detergent and slept with the blanket for a few weeks so that it would have my scent.

Our State - I provided a copy of a map of the US and drew an arrow to our state.

Letter - I found a sample letter on my orphanage's Yahoo group. I had a friend translate a few more sentences to personalize it. You can also find your orphanage's address through your Yahoo group or through your agency.

Be sure to declare $0 for the items so that the orphanage will not have to pay tax on the package contents. You can also have a package sent to your child's orphanage through Blessed Kids.

I've been amazed at the number of families who actually do receive the camera, toy, and other items from the care package on the day that they receive their child. The pictures of their child in the orphanage, with their nanny and other children, are absolutely priceless. I hope to also receive these little snippets of our daughter's history. I'll update this post if I'm one of the fortunate ones to be returned the items.