Volunteer, anyone?

So I'm not really a big fan of the advertising that is ubiquitous in the city. Billboards, shop signs, and people handing out leaflets vie for your attention as you walk down the street. The view out our window is dominated by the sign for Viacom Outdoor (which is, ironically, a billboard company) and for Holiday Inn, the lights of which light up our bedroom in the middle of the night.
So it's with some amazement that I tell you that a sign on a bus had the desired effect on me yesterday. I saw an advertisement for the Camden Volunteer Day on the side of the number 134 bus. So yesterday afternoon, I went along with teammate Kathy to see what opportunities for volunteering were available in Camden. There were fewer groups than I expected...mostly smaller, less-well-known groups that probably have a harder time recruiting volunteers than the big-boys like Oxfam and RSPCA do. Still, there was a good variety, including a group called The Gorilla Organization that needs volunteers to put on a Gorilla suit and ask for donations at tube stations. There's also a group that works with HIV/AIDS patients that may be looking for someone to do computer training.
I went hoping there'd be opportunities to volunteer in our neighborhood, and while most of the groups were based in Camden burrough, it's a large burrough and none of them were very close to us.