I had a roommate straight out of the PC and she was poor as a church mouse. Couldn’t afford to go out, coupons to eat, didn’t want to pay for utilities. I would definitely give money.

Cash

Mental health counseling

I served 20 years ago but some of these suggestions sound nuts to me. Volunteer circumstances are going to vary tremendously by country and site, so getting them something specific may be difficult. I’d probably do something like an REI gift card (assuming they won’t be in a city or larger town) OR mail them some small things that will be nice for their house once they’re situated. We used to go nuts over stuff like made our extremely basic houses feel more pleasant. The most popular care packages I remember people getting were blueberry pancake mix, scented candles, Babyfoot-type products - that sort of thing.

Anonymous wrote:It depends on where they are going but a weekend size travel backpack would be a great choice. They will probably have something for getting their stuff to site, but a lot of volunteers travel around on the weekends to visit each other and having something easily packed up and sturdy in that size is helpful.

DP. This is good advice!

It depends on where they are going but a weekend size travel backpack would be a great choice. They will probably have something for getting their stuff to site, but a lot of volunteers travel around on the weekends to visit each other and having something easily packed up and sturdy in that size is helpful.

Kevlar

Refurbished apple products. Like an iPad with cellular capabilities, maybe the pencil and keyboard, too. Along with a cheap protective case. I suggest refurbished because it's less expensive and if the items break, it doesn't feel as bad?

The PC gives them crappy computers, and they might like a small personal iPad for watching movies, video calls, and it might help them with their work like when they are studying the language. Make sure it has cell capabilities because a lot of places have surprisingly robust cellular coverage, and the IPad can double as a phone.

Money