Volunteer Profile: Barb Murray

Barb with one of her handmade glass stars at the Western Family Forum

Support can come in many forms: a heartfelt conversation, a warm cup of coffee, a plate of food made from scratch, or a beautiful glass star. All of these represent the different ways Barb Murray shares her gifts with others as a volunteer, both in her community and with Threads of Life.

Barb has always been a volunteer in her community, whether it was with Girl Guides as a leader for many years, at the local curling club teaching junior curling and timekeeping at bonspiels, or as part of her church women’s group catering events. Volunteerism was modeled by her mother who took time when she wasn’t working as a nurse to volunteer with a pharmacy wives’ group doing good deeds in the community. Barb says, “To give back was expected and I’ve carried on the tradition that my family instilled in me”. Being a Girl Guide member growing up taught Barb to do a good deed every day, something she still endeavours to do.

Barb first became involved with Threads of Life in a volunteer capacity after attending her first Family Forum in 2011. She suggested ways to help families feel less alone and more connected at Family Forums, which led to the practice of matching new members with returning members so they aren’t navigating the weekend event on their own. Because of this true sense of caring and her ability to recognize the importance of connection, Barb was invited to become a Volunteer Family Guide and took the beginner training in 2013. Since that time she has also become a trade show representative and a volunteer within the Speakers’ Bureau.

When Barb lost her husband Bob in 2010 to a workplace tragedy, she received peer support from a Volunteer Family Guide. She found great comfort in that peer support and wanted to be able to do the same for others. It was during this time Barb took up glass work as her own personal grief therapy. “It made me smile at a time when I couldn’t smile,” she says. She also decided to take it upon herself to create glass star ornaments to gift to each new family that attends the Western Family Forum each year. For at least 8 or 10 years she has been providing these keepsakes, handcrafted with great care. It fills her with joy to see the new members open these gifts. Each star includes a special tagged message of hope from Barb. “It lets them know I’m thinking about you and that you can think about your loved one.” Making the glass stars each year is a “give back” piece for her to Threads of Life. This token of a handmade gift given to others provides her with the satisfaction of knowing she’s helped to provide a way for others on this journey of grief to find a bit of joy once again.

Barb knows the power of support and what an impact it can have on healing. Having been the recipient of many donated meals after Bob’s death, Barb recalls what a tremendous help that was during such a difficult time. “It was one less thing for me to have to think about.” Support and healing with food can be very powerful. In the wake of a recent community tragedy, Barb was right alongside her fellow church members preparing sandwiches, cake and coffee while the community came together to mourn the loss of a local family and provide support to each other. “In times of grief and loss you feed someone, that’s what you do,” she says.

Volunteering is important to Barb on a very personal level and she encourages more young people to start volunteering, “You get far more out of it than what you put into it; it helps your soul,” Barb notes. “Volunteers and the work they do, without them, things would collapse and every organization would struggle.” The gift of support and of community can bring powerful healing on many levels. The ongoing work Barb does is a testament to the multitude of benefits volunteers provide not only for those who receive, but for those who give of themselves and their time.