Helen Macdonald and Sharon Biggs look back on dedicated service to refugee committee

After many decades of hard work and dedication, Helen Macdonald and Sharon Biggs are stepping back from the St. Joseph Refugee Committee.

They’re leaving behind a long legacy of helping vulnerable people from all over the world, those who have fled persecution, war, hardship and great poverty; and they’re leaving behind a powerful example of what it means to fulfill Christ’s commission in the Gospel – to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, comfort the afflicted and welcome the stranger.

Since it began in 1979, St. Joseph Refugee Committee has been a joint partnership between St. Joseph Catholic Church in Grande Prairie, the Archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan and the federal government, offering one-year sponsorships for refugees fleeing hardship and seeking a better life in Canada. Over the past 46 years, the Saint Joseph Refugee Committee has sponsored more than 60 individuals and families. For many years, the committee was led by Sharon Lejeune, and in the last few years, Helen Macdonald and Sharon Biggs have led the committee’s work.

Helen has been a part of the refugee committee since its early years, being its most long-serving and continuous member. Her dedication is reflected in her many stories and anecdotes about the people she has helped, many of whom she remains in close contact with today. Some of those families are still in Grande Prairie, though many have moved to other parts of the country.

During our interview, Helen pulled out her phone to proudly show recent photos of a family they had helped come to Canada 36 years earlier. While pointing to the photos of the family’s twin daughters at age 40, Helen notes these girls were only 3 years old when she first met them and helped welcome them to Canada.

This reflects one of the biggest rewards for both Helen and Sharon – the opportunity to make lifelong friends and to see people get a second chance and build new lives in Canada.

“It’s gratifying to see how people have meaningful lives, and you‘ve been a part of it, or rather, the Holy Spirit working through you has been a part of it,” said Sharon, who has worked alongside Helen with the St. Joseph Refugee Committee for the past 20 years. “I find in hearing their stories, realizing the courage they have, there’s also a universality you discover – that we really are all the same.”

Just recently, Helen recalls going to a doctor’s appointment with a refugee they had sponsored, and to her surprise, a woman working at the clinic turned out to be a former refugee they had sponsored many years earlier. The fruits of their labours are routinely seen through small encounters like this.

Though their work with the committee is coming to an end, they will surely still have the occasional run-in with the many people they have helped.

“To me, the most rewarding part of all of this is getting to meet people from other cultures, to know their faith, their lives, and to help people establish a new life,” said Helen. “It’s very nice as well to stay connected with so many people. Sometimes they call us auntie, some reach out and wish us a happy birthday each year. So you also get to extend your family through this experience.”

Now, Helen and Sharon are stepping away from the refugee committee and their current agreement with the archdiocese and federal government will come to an end. The pair note there were two major factors in their decision. One is time of life. They are both getting older and want to scale back from the intense responsibilities that come with leading a refugee sponsorship.

“Some of the demands of sponsorship can wear on you after a while,” said Helen. “To find an affordable house, to help people get into English lessons, to help people find work – it creates a lot of challenging situations.”

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There have been many touching moments and memories for both Helen and Sharon through this committee. They both recall fondly a Muslim family they had sponsored, and especially the father who referred to Helen and Sharon as the ‘good Samaritans’, referencing Jesus’s parable in the New Testament.

Sharon particularly holds dear one memory of being invited to a Thanksgiving dinner with a refugee family they sponsored, and the words spoken there that struck her so deeply.

“When I went to leave, I said, ‘Thank you for the nice meal,’ and a member of the family said, ‘Thank you for my freedom. Last year at this time, I was sleeping on a sheet of cardboard,” Sharon recalled, visibly moved as she invoked the memory.

This is only an excerpt. Read the full story in the November 2025 edition of Northern Light