Now, as far as we know you can't just march over to Howard Brown or the Center on Halsted with a cheery, "How can I help?" The former asks volunteers to complete an application, and the latter requires volunteers to attend an orientation first (currently full until February of next year). So instead check out this list of Chicago-area volunteer opportunities if you want to participate. And please stop back Thursday and share with us tales of co-workers who legitimately called in sick tomorrow and found themselves inadvertently outed. more ›