Around 50 stalls were manned by not-for-profit organisations from the St George and Sutherland area.
Each was offering places for the services of volunteers.
Some well-known organisations were present, such as Red Cross, the Cancer Council and Rotary, as well as some lesser known groups, including Hammondcare and Sydney Alliance.
It is indeed an honourable thing to volunteer your services to assist the less fortunate in our society. And the expo was an excellent opportunity to get a glimpse into the groups in the local area in need of voluntary assistance. Many of them receive no government funding, such as the group assisting people with Parkinson's Disease.
The event was run by Keystone - an organisation that promotes volunteering in the area.
Many of the stall holders were keen to chat to passersby, keen to recruit the services of new volunteers.
Others were happy to allow people to pass by without even making eye contact. I understand many of these people were probably volunteers themselves, but they let a potentially valuable resource slip through their fingers.
Each group had plenty of communication for people to take away, such as leaflets and brochures, and some had the ubiquitous lollies and freebies to attract you to their table.
The Hurstville Entertainment Centre is certainly showing its age. I remember going to functions there in the 1960s and it appears nothing has changed. One of the problems the auditorium has is acoustics. For a function such as an expo, it is too noisy. A few hundred people in the room trying to talk at the same time made it very difficult to hear people, especially those who were physically unable to speak loudly.
I left my contact details with a few organisations. I'll be interested to see who contacts me and how long it takes.
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