Volunteer Profile: Barb Ediger

This week’s feature volunteer is Barb Ediger, who started volunteering for the Canadian Red Cross in 1997, during the flood of the century in Winnipeg.

Barb is a member of the central region Disaster Management Team, which responds to large-scale disasters such as floods and forest fires. In the past, she has worked as a responder, a supervisor and she is currently being trained as a site manager. As someone who pitches in wherever help is needed most, Barb has also worked the telephone lines, provided office support and staffed awareness events.

One response in particular encapsulates the Red Cross volunteer experience for Barb. During the 2017 wildfire evacuations response, she was at the RBC Convention Centre providing assistance to an evacuee who needed assistance setting up transportation to his diabetes appointments. He had requested Barb’s assistance in particular because she had aided him on a previous occasion and he had found her to be both kind and helpful.

“I sat with him and his wife for about half an hour laughing and joking and making sure that he had taxis and appointments arranged for the next couple of weeks. When I got up to leave, they applauded me. What I did was nothing special, but they obviously appreciated the time I spent with them and I walked away feeling that I had helped ease their anxieties and made their stay in Winnipeg a little bit easier. They made my day.”

Retired from working with the Winnipeg School Division, Barb now considers herself a professional volunteer. Along with her work for the Red Cross, she also volunteers for Ten Thousand Villages, St. Amant and the Sustainable South Osborne Community Co-operative. As well, Barb and her husband are involved with the South Osborne Syrian Refugee Initiative as surrogate parents/grandparents for five Syrian refugees. The couple helps the refugees negotiate government bureaucracy and introduce them to the pleasures of Canadian living like hockey games and going to the lake.

People should volunteer for the Red Cross because “everybody likes to feel needed,” said Barb. “There is a real need for dependable, empathetic people during an emergency.”

The Red Cross needs more local heroes like Barb who are ready to volunteer their time to help people impacted by disasters. If you are interested in being a part of the team, go to www.redcross.ca/HeroesWantedMB, email vrs@redcross.ca or call 204-982-7330 for more details.