UCLA students start Tender Lovin’ Package to deliver food and songs

Chris Flood was bewildered when a student showed up at his doorstep, delivered a care package full of snacks to him and began singing the national anthem.

Despite his confusion, Flood, a third-year pre-business economics student, asked the other people in his apartment to watch, and they began singing along, he said.

“It was four people screaming the national anthem in the middle of their apartment,” said Jackie Lin, a second-year biology student who delivered the package. “They had a great time.”

Lin is one of four students who created a care package delivery service called Tender Lovin’ Package six weeks ago. Tender Lovin’ Package now delivers more than 20 packages per week to students on campus and in Westwood Village.

[Related: Students bring pancake delivery service to the Hill]

She and the other founders, Sam Gessow, a first-year mechanical engineering student, Emily Rajcic, a third-year philosophy student, and Fiona Tang, a third-year bioengineering student, make and deliver the packages. The packages, which customers can order on their website range from $5 to $7, Lin said.

The four students met at the beginning of fall quarter as members of Sigma Eta Pi, UCLA’s entrepreneurship fraternity.

Tang said she noticed during her first two years on campus that some students never experienced the excitement of receiving a care package.

“When I was a first-year, I never got any care packages from my parents, because it just wasn’t something they knew about,” Tang said.

The founders also noticed existing care package services are much more expensive, sometimes more than $30 and outside of most students’ budgets, Gessow said.

“As a student, often I want to give my friends a present, but I’m pretty broke,” Lin said.

With that in mind, the four students created their business, assembling and delivering packages with a variety of snacks to students. They order the snacks in bulk from Costco and assemble each package with about six items such as chips, popcorn, juice boxes and candy, Rajcic said.

Some of the package items are changed every week, and the creators will post a picture of that week’s snacks on their Facebook page, Gessow said.

The students personally deliver packages every night from 10 p.m. to midnight, Lin said.

“All students love getting packages from their families or their friends, and with us you don’t even need to go to the mailroom,” Lin said.

[Related: Student-created app matches strangers for meals on the Hill]

Tender Lovin’ Package now allows students who order a care package to write a personalized note to send to their friends. They can also request that the deliverer sing a song, such as “Happy Birthday,” Lin said.

“We put the national anthem on there just for fun, but a lot of people have actually ordered it,” Lin said.

The founders said they enjoy the chance to develop their business and marketing skills for their future careers.

“It just blows my mind that all we had to do is sit down, plan it out, do it and now we’re making money – that’s crazy,” Lin said.

The founders said they’re surprised that their small business is generating so much revenue.

“It started by word of mouth … and now we’re getting random people ordering, which is the coolest part,” Rajcic said. “I’m very surprised with how busy we’ve been.”

Rajcic said someone even ordered a package for her, which she was thrilled to receive even though the package contents were familiar to her.

Christina Chowdhury, a second-year sociology student, said she ordered her first Tender Lovin’ Package for her new little in the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity.

“I ordered three packages, for my little, then some for my friends and then one for myself because I thought it was such a good idea,” Chowdhury said.

Chowdhury said she and her friends think the care package has a good variety of snacks and that some items in the package were nostalgic for them, such as Capri Sun juice pouches.

Though Tender Lovin’ Package is in its early stages of development, the founders would like it to become a mainstay in the UCLA community, Lin said.

“For littles in sororities and for Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving … we want to be the go-to,” Rajcic said.