Kosher Care Packages in the News!
Excerpt of NY  Jewish Week article June 22, 2007
Story by Liel Liebovitz

… it’s a statement with which Karen Chazan heartily agrees. A former advertising executive, Chazan, now in her mid-40s, found herself, a few years ago, at a crossroads.

“I was looking to buy a small business,” she said. “We’re an observant family, so whatever I would do would need to fit those requirements, and we would also like to support any kind of Jewish cause or organization.”

Armed with these specifications, Chazan began searching for a big idea. She, too, followed her kishkes.

“I have good friends whose son is studying away from home in Rhode Island,” she said, “and they kept saying how they wish there was some way to get him food. He would take frozen stuff when he came home, but it was not that often. He’s in a small town, and there’s no kosher meal plan and no Hillel at the school.”

Chazan had her eureka moment: She established Kosher Care Packages, a service that ships food packages of varying sizes and contents to anyone from students stuck on remote campuses to wary international travelers.

“I was always interested in healthy food,” said Chazan, “and in healthy cooking, and this company merges all my interests into a viable business.”

On her Web site, www.koshercarepackages.com , Chazan offers well-edited selections of foodstuffs, from the enormous “Cramming for Finals” package which, for $72, includes everything from Israeli coffee to a make-your-own-pizza kit, to more specialized fare such as the “Don’t Panic, It’s Organic!” package ($54), which includes snack solutions for the health-conscious eater. The only requirements, Chazan said, are a heksher, nutritional value and a long shelf life; the goods are stored in a warehouse in Queens, where she lives, and shipped without Styrofoam “peanuts” in environmentally friendly packaging. Since she began offering the service last September, she said, more than 60 customers have signed up, mostly for repeat orders.

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