Send more than thoughts with these care package ideas for grieving friends or family members.
When a loved one has experienced a loss, it can be difficult to know what to do and how to support them.
If you’d like to do something more personal than giving a card or calling with condolences, a hand-picked and carefully arranged care package for a grieving friend or family member goes a long way.
A sympathy care package can be used to:
- Commemorate a loss or honor a death anniversary
- Cope with the difficult social and financial circumstances that death brings
- Promote mental and emotional healing for the grieving
- Encourage rest and comfort, when grief is draining
- Process and adjust to life without the deceased
To achieve these results, this gift guide was created to suggest what to put in a care package for someone who is grieving.
How to Help a Grieving Friend
No one should feel alone during the grieving process.
It can be hard for the grieving to reach out when they are overwhelmed with sadness and conflicting emotions. So, be forward about offering your time, presence and assistance.
If they allow a visit, it is most useful to offer a listening ear but when you do get an opportunity, you can share a memory of the deceased and talk about their impact on your life. This will help your friend understand that their loved ones legacy lives on.
You can also help by providing a helping hand. Offer to help with chores, shop for groceries or care for children or pets.
Finally, giving a care package is a practical way to show that you care and meet your friends specific needs (in a way that flowers and cards can’t).
Care Package and Gift Ideas for a Mourning Friend or Family Member
Many people will send cards and flowers and while those are nice, a DIY care package for someone who is grieving meets their everyday needs, comforts them and honors the life of their loved one.
Below, you will find care package ideas for grieving friends, family members or associates.
You will also find gifts that you can give in the place of flowers and a variety of special gift baskets.
Meal Subscription Box
In many cultures, meals are a common gift to bring to those who are mourning. In difficult times of death, the last thing a grieving person should have to think about is meal planning.
A meal subscription box like Dinnerly is a very thoughtful gift that allows the grieving to stay well fed, even when the guests and the gifts dwindle.
Gift Card for Grief Therapy
Gift them a healthy outlet for their grief.
You can give a single live therapy session or unlimited therapy sessions with a Talkspace E-Card,
Visit the site and then scroll down and select "Gift Cards" under "Services". The recipient will receive an e-card with your personalized message.
Keepsake Gift
These customizable memorial gift boxes are a beautiful place to store memories that can be cherished till the end of time.
Coffee Gift Card
Along with sleepless nights, the grieving process can also come with a bunch of new responsibilities like paperwork and sorting out the deceased's family and home affairs.
A gift like this Starbucks Gift Card comes in handy to provide the energy they may need to get all of this done.
Remembrance Gift
Send a remembrance gift to preserve their loved ones memory forever.
This commemorative keychain can be customized with any name and date and personalized with a personal photo.
Food Gift Card
Restaurant gift cards like this Panera Bread Gift Card support their grieving process by freeing up their time and energy.
Memorial Lantern
This memorial lantern can be lit to represent the light that the deceased brought into your lives.
The lamp is inscripted with the words "Because someone we love is in heaven... there is a little bit of heaven in our home".
Self Reflection Gifts
The work of grief is an exhausting one. Learning to live a life without the deceased calls for much awareness, healing and transformation.
One way to gift this is with Soul Therapy - a 365-day journal that spurs reflection with prompts, quotes, open-ended questions and more. The ultimate safe space.
What to Send When Someone Dies Instead of Flowers
Flowers aren't the only sentimental gifts for someone who lost a loved one.
Here are various alternatives to use as gifts for a grieving friend.
Wind Chimes
For someone with a garden or patio, each melodious jingle of a wind chime can make them feel like their loved one is all around them.
This memorial wind chime is engraved with the quote "Listen to the wind and know that I am near -- Forever in our hearts".
Personalized Memorial Candle
These memorial candles are customized with a label that says "In Memory of [Name]".
The grieving can light it for their loved one in the moments when they miss them the most.
A Tree Sapling
Friends and family can plant a Little Saps gift tree as a way to honor the essence of life with a piece of nature. These tree seedlings (which come in a variety of evergreens) are the ultimate symbols of new life. It is something that the grieving can watch grow tall and strong.
Furthermore, it comes with a gift tag that says "In memory of your loved one. Plant with love".
Bereavement Jewelry Box
This jewelry box is a multifaceted gift that will easily replace (or complement) a bouquet of flowers.
Not only can it be filled with photos, messages and other reminders of their loved one, the artwork on the front can be replaced with a personal photo and it can be wound up to play "Wind Beneath My Wings".
Keepsake Glass Jar with Notes Inside
Friends and family members can write memories of the deceased or letters to the bereaved and drop them into this keepsake glass jar for memories for years to come.
This jar comes with 50 cards and can be engraved with any name and date, to make it even more special.
(Writing Open When Letters for the bereaved is another related option....)
Memorial Stepping Stone
To keep their loved ones close to home for all time, this memorial stepping stone is painted with the quote-
"Perhaps They Are Not Stars In The Sky, But Rather Openings Where Our Loved Ones Shine Down To Let Us Know They Are Happy".
Book of Comfort
A book like "100 Hugs: A Little Book of Comfort" by Sandy Gingras is perfect for someone needing consolation.
This book is a collection of 100 small actions, words, paintings, etc to uplift the spirit.
I would especially suggest this book as a gift for grieving children or teenagers.
Comforting Quote Sign
Give them something with which to adorn their home, like a hand lettered box sign with a comforting quote.
This one reads "Because Someone We Love Is In Heaven There Is A Little Bit Of Heaven In Our Hearts".
Gift Basket Ideas for Someone You Know That is Grieving
You don't need to over-complicate things to show that you care.
If you need gifts for the loss of a loved one or a care package for a friend who lost parent, gift baskets are easy and they offer variety!
They also make excellent assortments to display and use at funerals or wakes.
Gourmet Snack Gift Basket
This delicious basket of gourmet snacks comes with a "With Sympathy" ribbon.
The basket includes:
+ caramel corn
+ chocolate drizzled corn
+ chocolate-covered sea salt cashews
+ chocolate-covered pretzels
+ caramel drizzled pretzels
+ peanut brittle &
+ Ghirardelli chocolate squares
Spa Gift Basket
When someone is overwhelmed with grief, it is easy for them to forget to take care of themselves. Remind them to do so with this appropriately themed "Sorry For Your Loss" Spa Package.
This gift basket includes:
+ a bath bomb
+ aromatherapy roller
+ bath salts
+ room/linen spray
+ a hand poured candle &
+ a free surprise gift
Plant Gift Basket
A plant gift basket is a reminder of rebirth and new life.
Lavender is known as a soothing and calming scent.
This Lavender Succulent Gift Box includes:
+ a live succulent in a white ceramic pot
+ candle in fresh cut lavender
+ a bar of organic lavender soap
+ a lavender sachet of herbs and essential oils
It says "A Beautiful Soul is Never Forgotten".
Gift Card Basket (or Tree)
A Gift Card Basket is a distinctive way to give gift cards and money (especially as a group).
Be even more unique with a gift card tree. Its light-up branches have 10 alligator clips that hold gift cards and cash.
Choose a variety of gift cards: ones that buy household essentials and toiletries as well as ones that buy services like cleaning, gas, lawn care, pampering, etc.
Fruit Basket
Send your condolences with this keepsake fruit basket.
This basket includes:
+ 2 varieties of pears, 2 varieties of apples, oranges, mandarins, and a fruit in season
+ natural cheddar cheese
+ roasted and salted almonds
(A fruit basket is a good care package for someone with certain intolerances like gluten allergies, etc).
Baked Goods Gift Basket
This comforting basket of carbohydrates is appropriately named a Hug in a Mug.
This kit includes:
+ handmade brownies (made from scratch)
+ italian biscotti
+ gourmet coffee samplers &
+ 2 mugs that say "Hug in a Mug"
For related care package ideas, see:
Frequently Asked Questions
The best answer to most of the following questions is to…ASK.
When you are unsure, ask the person or people involved what they prefer. We all have unique preferences and needs.
What is the best way to help a grieving friend?
- Ask them if and when they would like company.
- Send a care package.
- Send meaningful messages about loss, grief and hope (via card or electronically).
- Suggest any grief resources that are available locally or virtually.
If appropriate, you can send contact information for grief counselors, local meetings and/or helpful videos or reading materials.
What should I include in a sympathy care package?
If your sympathy care package is being sent to someone grieving a loss, any of the above gift ideas are appropriate.
If you are sending a sympathy care package that is not centered around a death, then your care package should be customized to the specific situation.
Find inspiration by viewing these 12 themed box of sunshine ideas & How to DIY a Sunshine Box.
What should I send to the family when someone passes away?
When someone passes away, you can send their family:
- Assorted Gift Baskets (which they can put out for visitors or use to take care of their family)
- Sympathy Cards
- Contributions towards the memorial and the funeral
- Flowers (if this is customary to give in their culture)
Is it appropriate to give money in a sympathy card?
Giving money is one of the most helpful gestures that you can extend after a death.
From having to replace income to paying hospital and funeral costs, death and the grieving process can bring about many expenses.
Giving money with a card is a way to give the family the flexibility to meet whatever needs may come up during this time. So, yes, it is appropriate.
Is it appropriate to send flowers to a funeral?
In some cultures, including North American culture, flowers are an appropriate gift to give at funerals because they represent beauty and the natural cycle of life.
In other cultures, this is not so.
Do a bit of research to find out what is best in your specific case. And if you’d like to avoid flowers altogether, there are plenty of alternative gifts ideas that you can bring above.
Keep in mind that some families will make special requests “in lieu of flowers”. It is always a good idea to honor these preferences.
What can I say instead of “sorry for your loss”?
It is common to be at a loss for words when death strikes.
If you are offering your condolences in person, via telephone call or in a card, you may wish to say something a bit more personal than “sorry for your loss”.
Some thoughtful things to say are:
- “You can talk to me about [the name of the deceased] whenever you’d like- both now and for years to come”.
- “We won’t forget him/her”.
- “She/He was so proud of you”.
- “We will get through this together”.
- “I would like to help you by bringing you a meal or by running some of your errands. Can you tell me a good time to come help you out”?
- “It’s okay to cry. Don’t hold back. She/he was deeply loved”.
For more care package ideas, see:
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