care package

American  

noun

1. Also CARE package. a package containing food, clothing, or other items sent as necessities to people in need of them.

2. a gift of treats to relatives or friends, especially of items not readily available to them.

   She sends monthly care packages of homemade cookies to her son at college.

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care package Idioms  

1. A gift package of food or other items not readily available to the recipient, as in While I was in college, Mom sent me a care package of homemade cookies just about every month. This term originated after World War II with CARE, an organization founded to send needed food, clothing, and other items to war-torn nations. By the 1960s the term had been transferred to sending packages of treats to children at camp, students away at school, and the like.

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Etymology

Origin of care package

First recorded in 1945–50; from the aid packages distributed by CARE

Example Sentences

Meanwhile, a care package is one of the few parts of NHS spending where the cost of an individual is highly visible.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

She too has complex clinical needs and requires the sort of expensive care package that campaigners say is being scrutinised by ICBs to balance budgets.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

A regional NHS care board commissions the care package.

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026

When he arrived in Arizona, a care package awaited him at the local Wal-Mart.

From Slate • Feb. 23, 2026

I’m sending a care package from Dad’s trading post.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith