Yes, all of the above. Small personal items. Shampoo, tooth paste, soaps, razors, lotions. Take some beef and turkey jerky and candy everyone loved this, they cannot get any kind of beef products. What area are you going?
Have a great trip.

Hi, as brands are not sold there they love everything with brands. old cloths with logo’s etc. But I don’t know if this is a good thing to bring them.
Also medication, I got donations from hospitals here etc, we travelled there with a whole bag full of cancermedication, injection things, powder food,....
Kids love to get pens etc.

Clothing is a hit, as well. I only wish I would have thought to ask the same question before I went.

Enjoy your trip!

Almost ANYTHING would be greatly appreciated….make-up, medicine, perfume (or body sprays), definitely any clothing with a logo, cds, candy…you could even go to the dollar store before your trip and stock up on all of these things (well, probably not clothing!) including little toys for the kids. Cigarette lighters would be a big hit as well, if only you could find a way to travel with them through the airlines!

Everybody pretty much answered your question. I always take Candy….gum! They love gum!Well my niece and nephew sure did.They sold a lot of it as well. When I go I take things like razors, clothes,Vitamins, or medicine. They don’t really care what you give them. They will appreciate anything. Very kind people. I love Cuba

all of the ideas above are excellent! here are a couple links for more ideas:

http://www.acrosscuba.com/index.php?L=4&B=45

http://www.canadacuba.ca/donate/donatetocuba.php

(ignore the recommendation in the second link about not giving to individuals.)

have a mojito for me! :)

My friends in Cuba needed things like bed sheets! Stuff for the home is usually welcomed. Also the obvious like vitamins and medicines. I also brought back letters to post for them and offered to take letters over for people who had friends living in Havana. The postal service gets ‘interupted’ quite a lot. I’d love to hear how things are under Raul.

Don’t forget to bring pens! We’ve even encountered students who did not have a pen… Great country, beautiful nature and super-friendly people. Have a great time there!

Hey There,

They appreciate all sorts of stuff but the hardest and costliest (in Cuba) stuff they need are things like toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, basically any hygiene stuff or meds (Tylenol and stomach remedies are good). Shoes are very costly and they will take used gladly. I brought a bunch of clothes that I could just leave behind. Baby stuff is hard to come by too and you will see lots of pregnant women who will always be very glad to accept baby gifts (soothers, wipes, bibs, sleepers, etc). Also, locals cannot buy english books so young-reader english books are a valued item. I stayed on resorts and gave stuff to staff there who have families. They were all very grateful. We also did a rural tours both times and I brought stuff to people on farms, both for parents and kids. That was well received too. Hope that helps!

all the above sound great, but I would also emphazie medications, medical supplies donated to the local hospital are a huge help.

if you are willing to bring larger stuff, go to your local hospital or nursing home and see if they have any old equipment they aren’t using (the one I worked in had a basement full), canes, walkers, etc are needed as well – even bedsheets.

But for the smaller stuff, a lot of the above sound good.

Womens’ nylon stockings (pantyhose) are very much in demand, on top of all the other stuff that’s already been mentioned here.

Yes, they really appreciate these things. They need shampoos and soaps for most. And kids are interested in pencils, they really adore the normal wooden pencils. I can not think how happy they would feel when they see colored pencils, crayons.

Try to have a good vacation, Cuba is really wonderful.

Happy holidays.

Yeah the women love any nice toiletries cos they really can’t get hold of any and stationery, esp pencils for the kids. And a lot of people will appreciate it if you post their letters for them. Also, a couple of people i met asked me to bring phrasebooks so they could communicate better with people travelling there.
Have an amazing time!

yes to all of the above. i didn’t read too closely, so don’t know if anyone mentioned aspirin. little packs of that would be appreciated because it’s reportedly hard to come by.

Wow, I’m overwhelmed! Thanks a lot, peeps!

I don’t have a fixed itinerary, I’ll figure it out as I go. I’m taking tips from some of the other questions that were posted about Cuba previously.

I always feel a little silly bringing this stuff, like a missionary offering plastic beads in exchange for gold or conversions to christianity… but from your responses I guess I need to get over it. (I’m not suggesting that the cubans are savages, I just don’t want to arrive there with an attitude…)