Volunteer Spotlight: Kristin McGuire

Volunteers make the work the Living Beyond Breast Cancer staff does every day possible. From in-office support to event staffing and peer helpline calls, people like you help us strive toward our vision of a world where no one with breast cancer feels uninformed or alone.

To celebrate the people who devote so much of their time to LBBC’s programs and resources we’ve started Volunteer Spotlight, a series to share more about who they are and why they do what they do.

Kristin McGuire, from Oaklawn, Illinois, is one of our Breast Cancer Helpline volunteers.

Kristin McGuire, 39, of Oaklawn, Illinois, was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in September of 2016. She is a Breast Cancer Helpline volunteer and a Young Advocate.

What’s your favorite thing about volunteering in your community?

As a Young Advocate with Living Beyond Breast Cancer and a Breast Cancer Helpline volunteer, I truly enjoy talking with other survivors and sharing stories. I feel that through each person’s story you learn something new about how to cope or help.

My volunteering is not just hosting LBBC information tables at conferences or on the phone with the Helpline. I am often contacted by family and friends who need someone to talk to when they hear about a person getting diagnosed. They will either talk with me or ask if I would talk with the newly diagnosed person. I share my experiences and share the trusted information I have received and continue to get from LBBC.

What’s the most unique volunteer activity you’ve ever done?

The most unique experience I had volunteering would be speaking at and participating in a fashion show. I am not a model at all, but it was really fun. The store Anthropologie hosted fashion shows in October 2018 and partnered with LBBC. I was able to walk in the show and then share my story and LBBC’s mission.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself!

I am an aunt to 10 nieces and nephews. They all are so special to me. I have also been an elementary school teacher for 14 years.

When you’re not volunteering, what are people likely to find you doing?

When I am not volunteering you can find me just relaxing! I am busy with many extras outside of working, so many days I am just sitting back and taking a rest. I also enjoy hanging out with family and friends. In the summer months, I enjoy sitting around a fire in the backyard.

Thank you to Kristin McGuire and all of our volunteers. If you would like to volunteer for LBBC, visit our page on volunteering.