Care packages arrive nearly every day on campus, but holidays are when Pat Casey and Gayla Schlei of South Dakota School of Mines & Technology see more deliveries from homes across the nation and even the world.

Casey, the front desk secretary at the Surbeck Student Center on the Mines campus, has watched many students break from their cool, sophisticated facades to grin and laugh like little schoolkids when opening a box filled with homemade treats, candy and gifts.

All of a sudden, these independent young adults regain the comfort, care and a little bit of their childhood home life, all packed in one box, she said.

"We had a care box come in just today," Casey said.

She teases the students that they must share whatever they receive, but knows that the students are more apt to savor the bounty sent rather than part with their treats.

Yet Casey has received one cinnamon roll over the years from a girl who shared her baked goods. Generally students will share birthday cakes that are delivered to the dormitory with staff and other students in the residence hall.

In the holiday season of Halloween, Valentine's Day, Christmas, St. Patrick's Day and Easter, the mail brings care packages from grandmothers, brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts as well as the parents, according to Schlei, senior secretary for Resident Life.

"Halloween is a big holiday for care packages. Valentine's is a big one, too," Schlei said.

"They never know who they're from, but the students are really excited to get them. It's always fun to get something in the mail," Schlei added.

Teneil Ryno, 19, agrees. The metallurgical engineering student receives care packages from her hometown church in Winner, where a group gathers a variety of items to send to all of its college students, she said.

Ryno's care packages have included brownies, Rice Krispie bars, snack packs, pens and paper and folders.

"Homemade treats are the best," she said. "Or quarters for laundry."

Yasmin Abuayed, 21, of Monticello, Minn., doesn't get care packages regularly.

"Oh yeah, I don't mind," Abuayed said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

If she were to get a care package, Abuayed would like any kind of electronics, CDs or even the latest DVDs. "It's fun just getting mail in general," she said.

Over the years, Schlei has seen a decline in the number of care packages delivered at the campus dormitory mailroom. Yet students still appreciate them. Care package delivery breaks down into two groups at Mines, Schlei said.

"The ones who get packages, get them all the time," she said. "The others never get anything."

The most unusual care package to arrive at the Surbeck Center was a festive 20-ounce soda pop bottle filled with tinsel and brightly colored foil-covered candy sent at Christmas time; an Easter-time pop bottle arrived filled with fake grass and candied Easter eggs.

"They slapped a label on it, and the post office delivered it," Schlei said.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com