Episode 246: National Volunteer Month

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Volunteerism is the steady arc that keeps the Canadian welding community strong and connected. In this episode, we welcome Daniela Torelli back to celebrate National Volunteer Month and spotlight the incredible Chapter executives and members who power the CWB Association across Canada and beyond. Leaning into this year’s theme, “Ignite Volunteerism,”  because if any community understands sparks, it’s welders. It’s the early mornings, late nights, and everything in between, with creating a welcoming space where the next generation can find their place in this trade. Join us in celebrating 105 years of legacy and growth, and don't forget to get involved with your local Chapter!

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Transcript

Welcome And Sponsor Offer

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to the CWB Association Welding Podcast. I'm your host, Kevin Hua. Let's flip up the lid and spark some conversation. Attention welders in Canada. Looking for top quality welding supplies? Look no further than Canada Welding Supply. With a vast selection of premium equipment, safety gear, and consumables, CWS has got you covered. They offer fast and reliable shipping across the country. And here's the best part podcast listeners get 10% off any pair of welding gloves. Use code CWB10 at checkout when placing your next order. Visit Canada Weldingsupply.ca now. Canada Welding Supply, your trusted welding supplier. Happy welding. Welcome to the CWB Association Welding Podcast. Today we have a special episode highlighting volunteer month, which is coming right up. And uh to bring it all back around, I have uh my boss with me, Danielle's back.

SPEAKER_02 1:07

Hey, I don't like being referred to as your boss.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Okay, I'm a friend. How about this technical advisor?

SPEAKER_02 1:16

Yeah, welding podcast manager.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Oh manager's kind of a boss. It's just like a like I, you know, like I'm a foreman. I just tell people that I work, you know, with them. You know, I work with you. You don't work for them. So yeah, Daniela, tell us about volunteer month.

SPEAKER_02 1:39

We're celebrating. We're celebrating National Volunteer Month in April, which is such a huge success. And we have so many volunteers that we deal with here at the CW Association. And it's really more than just a calendar, you know, day or month. Technically, National Volunteer Week is April 19th to 25th. But at the association here, we just declare the whole month as not National Volunteer Month. And really, it's every day. Every day we're appreciative of our members and our volunteers and our our chapter execs. And uh, but in April, we just like to really put a highlight to it. And it's actually quite interesting. I looked up for National Volunteer Week, and the theme this year is called Ignite Volunteerism. And I thought that was kind of cool.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Anything to do with fire, you know, we're gonna be all about it.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

I'm like welders, the welding community, we're always igniting every day with flames and sparks, and uh I thought that was quite interesting, and it just it made me smile.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Cool, yeah. Light and sparks and breaking hearts. I mean, no, never mind. That's not what we're going for.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

No, but yes, we are I want to put a really special spotlight on all of our passionate members that really hold our welding community together here at the association and and across Canada and globally. I like to say it I'm a little bit biased. Maybe you know you're the same here, but welders are probably some of the most passionate tradespeople that I've ever met. I think every skilled tradesperson, you know, there is passion in our in our blood and our bones, and but you know, welders, we gotta shine a special highlight on that.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

And um, I agree, yeah. Welders, we're we're different. We're different, you know. Some in some ways good, some ways bad. But like I always say this, and and again, not knocking on other trades because trades are very important. Yes, but you know, like I can, you know, as a as a plumber, I can run a piece of pipe that goes from here to there, and the next plumber does the same thing and the same thing. As a welder, there's so many niche aspects to it, and no welder really welds the same, but we all get done, right? The job gets done. So yeah, it's it's it's kind of a cliche thing to say, but like your weld is your signature and you take pride in that. So you you always back it up.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

You always want your next weld to be the best one, right? So we're always we're competitive, we're passionate, we're overall just cool people to deal with.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

But yes, so like it's like you mentioned though, like we are a bunch of volunteers, the association, every chapter across Canada, we are volunteers. Um, so it's it's volunteers, it's in the word, it's voluntary. We we don't have to do it, but we do it for a reason.

Volunteering Beyond The Shop

SPEAKER_02 4:39

And because yeah, the time, the energy, the expertise, you know, we don't just do it because we have to. We do it because we kind of believe in something bigger than our you know, day-to-day jobs, right? Um and that's super special and super important to really highlight um is that no one's forced to be a volunteer. We do it because internally we, you know, we want to achieve something bigger, we want to um promote something that we're passionate about, or you know, we care about what we're volunteering for, whether it's at your local animal shelter, whether it's, you know, your welding community or your local school or whatever that looks like, however, you volunteer, you know, your local food bank, whatever it is. Um, we do it because we care, and that's super important. And I mean, I don't know, is there anything is there anything you've volunteered with, Kevin, outside of the welding community?

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Like I mean, not specifically more important than you know, the welding community, but I've been going to my local like neighborhood community meetings because it this it came from this, you know, coming to meetings for the CWB Association, and now I'm doing that. Like, I kind of know how it all works and want to get more involved with that. Um I I recently volunteered as a judge for Skills Canada Saskatchewan competition. Um that was cool. That was really cool, and you know, like take a day off of work, but anytime skills come through, and I tell this to everybody all the time. It's like get involved with skills, go look at skills, just go see what it's about. Um, that that was really cool. Um, and I I plan to keep doing it. Like, I I want to be a judge, I want to get more involved in like setting it all up because it takes volunteers, let me tell you. Like it is crazy the amount of work that leads up to it, and then it's over in like eight hours.

105 Years Of Welding History

SPEAKER_02 6:43

But yeah, yeah, and I think many people just don't realize that like skills, you know, Skills Canada at a national level, they have the national competition, but then every province has their their local provincial competition, and yeah, they need volunteers to put the machinery together, set up the fume extractions, set up the plates, set up, you know, the different things that all come together um to put those booths together uh is super important. And one of those things really interesting and something cool, yeah, is that uh the CW Association is celebrating 105 years, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

The associate 105 years.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

105 years on March 15th, 1921. Um, the association was born. Now we've gone through different names over the years, and um, but a hundred and five years of a legacy of a welding community is quite cool to be a part of. Like to say that you're a part of a hundred and five year legacy, like I love that.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Yeah, that's uh is I heard somewhere, isn't it the is it the oldest welding association like of all time of in North America at least?

SPEAKER_02 8:01

I believe so. I don't know that a hundred percent for sure, but I believe so.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

We're gonna do a fact check episode after this.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Yeah, yeah. You could correct me if I'm wrong, but um yeah, it's and I've got actually I love history and I love learning about you know a community that we're a part of and and the work that I put into the association. Like I love I love learning the back end of it because I've only been here um at CWB for five years now. So I'm still new, I'm still a baby, you know.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

I'm still uh and I mean like going going back before the CWB uh was running the association, it was uh the Canadian Welding Association.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Was it so it was the Canadian Welding Society first, and then it was the Canadian Welding Association, CWA kind of was the um and CWA became a part of CWB Group or CWB or sorry, the Canadian Welding Bureau um in 2008. Um so just to think about putting in perspective, in 2008, CWA had about 36,000 members of welding professionals, you know, students to however many years you've been in the industry um globally. Um, and now we're over 91,000 members, which is just so wild to even think about.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

That is crazy. That's uh that's pretty insane growth, really, in like what 15 years? Oh 15, I can't do math. Like 18 years.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

As mothers, we're supposed to be good at math, but I'm also not good at math.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

Okay, let me let me look at that on a tape measure and I'll tell you exactly how many years.

SPEAKER_02 9:46

But I know anyone you know listening to this uh episode, you can't see me, but I'm actually holding a little piece of history in my hand, and it's the Canadian Welding Society Constitution and Bylaws little booklet. And it was adopted. The date on it is February 25th, 1949. And it's like so old school. I love it. It's in my desk, um, on top of my desk and on display. And I don't know if I'm supposed to have it, but I found it, somebody was about to throw it out, didn't realize it was in a folder, and I saw and I said, I need to save this. So I took it home with me, and I just I love holding this. Like I wanna go through it word for word, but it is to know that I'm holding a piece of history from 1949 is just like I'm just so proud of it. Like it's it's such a cool feeling, and uh all the people before us that help build this community is just so special. Yeah, I think we have to cherish it. We have to cherish that.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Absolutely, absolutely. I know the feeling like I've been working on these uh motorcycle heads with my buddy, and these these heads were made during World War II, you know, like 1940 to 1942. I think like a thousand of these motorcycles were made, and like we have 25 of these heads that we're rebuilding, and like every time I like work on one, it's like it's crazy to think that like these are insanely old and they're a piece of history.

Chapters Create Real Opportunities

SPEAKER_02 11:20

Yeah, that's so cool. I love that. Yeah, I mean, with National Volunteer Month, I mean, this really gives us an opportunity to kind of pause, reflect, and really recognize the impact that our our members and our chapters have had over the years and to date. Um, right now we have 18 chapters, 17 in Canada, and we have one chap international chapter in Santiago, Chile. And they are our boots on the ground in their local communities. You know, we operate at a national level, but the work that they put into uh in their local neighborhoods is really the the force behind of what we do. And it's important to recognize um, you know, the long hours that they put in after their work days, you know, to mentor the next generation and to to speak in classrooms, to create spaces where, you know, people feel like they belong in an industry and um you know they're not just supporting the community, they're they're really helping kind of shape the the lasting of it.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Yeah, I can honestly say, like since I've been an executive, uh, which was I don't know, just before COVID times, during COVID times, from going from from then till now, the growth has been just crazy. Like I can see the work that we've been doing for the last few years. Now it's like coming true. We're we're seeing students, we're getting people excited. When we go to these fairs or we do these events, there's there's people there that are just like just living for welding. They just want to just eat it all up and it's awesome. We even have people that aren't welders coming to our events, like just because we're a cool group of people to hang out with, yeah, it's it's good. And like, yeah, seeing seeing the young people coming out too, that's that's really it it warms my heart, really.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

Well, and it creates a ripple effect. You know, uh if a student attends a chapter event um that maybe you know may not even be thinking about pursuing welding, decides to pursue welding after attending, or you know, possibly an apprentice finds a mentor from attending an event. Um, or it, you know, reconnects uh industry professionals that maybe somebody they met along the way that they hadn't seen in a long time. Um, you know, or they learn about new technology and and new things that are going on in the industry. It really creates a ripple effect of what the chapters do and the events that they host and the ways that they give back to the community. It's it's a really meaningful impact.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I got a job offer last meeting we had.

unknown 14:04

Look at that.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

I mean, hey, that's you know we're doing something.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Yeah, management staff, if you're listening to the podcast, not just no, and I've I I'm not the only one. Like I've heard of people, you know, basically getting hired at at events uh or finding that next that next opportunity, right? And just connecting with people. You never know, like ask those questions, ask who people are, ask what they do. You never know what's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

Yeah, and networking is such a key element in any career that you're pursuing or in, you know, whether your students are starting out, that's such a vital time to get out there. I know it's sometimes scary if you don't know people in an industry and you're just starting out, and you know, where the chapters are really that community to kind of build that bridge for you to, you know, we I mean, chapters create, I know the Regina chapter, you guys do a game night, like a social event. You know, it's not sometimes always just about the technical events that they host, but they also host a lot of social gatherings to just create a friendly atmosphere where there's no pressure and come out and have some fun together. Like that's so important too.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Absolutely, yeah. It's not always about the technology, right? You gotta have you gotta have a little fun. You can't just sit in a classroom and look at a whiteboard for an hour, you know. You gotta get people excited, get the people going.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

For sure, for sure. And like um the industry tours, you know, going on a shop floor or a manufacturing floor and like getting to experience like what's what different shops are doing or companies are doing. Um, those are also a lot of fun. You get to try new technology that maybe you would have never done in your day-to-day job. Um, those types of opportunities are created by our chapters. So there's definitely a wide range of events that um our chapters host across Canada and internationally, but um, there's definitely, I would say, something for everybody, right?

Volunteer Burnout And Boundaries

SPEAKER_01 16:03

Now, on the other side of volunteering, right? You and I were talking about burnout just before we started recording this episode. I got too many things going on. I don't know what burnout is, but I'm pretty sure I've been living it for the last like three, four years. Same. Yeah. Let's talk about volunteer burnout.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

It's definitely a real thing. And I think it's hard to acknowledge sometimes when you're so driven by passion and like you're committed individuals, you know, that care so deeply about the welding community and our day-to-day jobs, you know. But sometimes like that can that passion can lead to taking on too much, right? Um, as we were talking about, you know, you you got your day-to-day job, sometimes you have a family, sometimes you got kids. Um you know, there's only so many hours in a day. And that's it's sometimes gets too much when you take on too much with, you know, organizing events, answering emails, supporting, you know, members, um, and while still balancing a full-time job and personal life, you know, that load can sometimes be too heavy. And it's important to really recognize that those signs of like, you know, being stretched too thin. Um, and then for volunteers, you know, we take pride in showing up and and it can be sometimes hard to take that step back without feeling like you're letting others down. But the truth is, and like I I hope more people recognize is that, you know, burnout is not a sign of weakness. It's really a sign of commitment and that, you know, if you feel the need to take a step back, that just means that you're, you know, you've been given a lot and that matters. And it's just time for sometimes reflection of that. And and it's okay to come and go as you please with interwelding community. We're always, you know, open doors, our arms are always open. Um, and it's okay to set boundaries, you know, or ask for help if you need it. Um, and you know, the goal is not always to do more, but it's to build something that lasts forever, right? We're always, you know, want to contribute to that legacy.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

I think a good point is um it's not about the you know, the quantity of service or the quantity of what you provide, but the quality of what you provide. And if you're doing everything, but you're not doing it well or not doing it at the best of your ability, then that's it's gonna suffer. The the end product is going to suffer. So sometimes dialing back and focusing on one or two things that are important and nailing those things, you get one less stress, and two, a s a sense of reward when you did do a good job that that did matter, instead of oh man, let these people down, or oh, I I should have been there, or you know, I was there, but didn't do what I was supposed to do. So like I'm I'm speaking as you know, as me right now, you know, like I I try to do it all. I do, and I I've been bitten many times by by the say yes bug and not being able to fulfill it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Yeah, and it's and that's okay, you know. I mean, I served my time as a chapter uh chair of, you know, for the kitchener chapter, and uh, you know, I did that for a few years, but you know, I had to take a step back too because with my workload and personal life, you know, it was getting too much. And and our chapters really, you know, aren't built on just a few people doing everything. I think a lot of uh people need to recognize the amount of work that goes into the chapters, and you know, they're really built on a team of of chapter executives of a board that help support each other. So they're always looking for though for more volunteers, uh more people to get involved at an executive level to really ensure that legacy continues on, right? So um, and my, you know, my role here at this at the association is to ensure that our volunteers are supported at a national level. And if, you know, if our volunteers are becoming too burnt out, you know, then I'm not doing my job properly, right? So I'm, you know, my role is to make sure that our volunteers are supported, our members are supported, you know, in their careers, that we're providing resources for them, um, and that we're making sure that our chapters thrive and that the wealthing community sort of uh thrives. So um I hold that role very important and uh I I you know I really want to continue that legacy on. So it's uh important to me and it's important to you know the entire community.

Volunteering Outside Welding Plus Spring

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Absolutely, absolutely. So you personally, if we can go there for just a moment, do you have any events or anything coming up for yourself that you're volunteering for that you're shining a light on?

SPEAKER_02 21:05

Yeah, I mean, as you know, as the association, you know, in my my role of the association, I like to get out and attend our local chapter events, uh, whether it's attending or helping in any way that I can. Um, I've got some chapter events coming up that I'm looking forward to to getting out there and uh participating. But on a personal level, I do help out with my local food bank. Um we're always donating food when possible. Um I'm also a huge sucker for animals. So I love helping out at uh some horse farms and uh and our animal shelter. So I also I, you know, volunteering is is uh in my blood. And, you know, if it's not for the welding community, um, I love, you know, getting involved in other ways. So it's just something I'm passionate about and and it's something that I love seeing others being passionate about and and hopefully they, you know, thrive in that. But yeah, there's uh lots of events coming up. I know. uh the spring and summer months. We're kind of out of that winter funk now. So I'm looking forward to getting out more. And uh I love going to schools and and talking about welding and sharing about our membership. And uh it's it's always great connecting with the next generation.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Yeah, I'm so done with winter. Here in Saskatchewan, we're on our fifth winter now. You know it goes away and it comes back and it goes away and then it comes back. You know, there's been blizzards in May, you know, so I better not see any more snow.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

We've been getting a lot of rain and it's washing all the snow away. Um so I can finally see my grass again which I'm super super happy about. And we've been this week we've been above zero. So I think today it was like 10 degrees and it was like fabulous. So yeah I'm uh excited for winter to be done with and uh I honestly I can't believe that it's already April. Like I don't even know where those last few months went.

Trivia Night Wins And Community Fun

SPEAKER_01 22:59

Yeah March disappeared um hey just because I have you on here and we can make it official to the people that don't know we just had National Trivia Night.

SPEAKER_02 23:09

Yes and uh I'm just wondering which chapter uh took took first overall yes for anybody that you know didn't attend or has never heard about our National Trivia Night here at the CWB Association. It's a virtual event that brings a great opportunity for our members and our chapters across Canada to get involved and connect and kind of have a fun little batter and uh banter and competitive spirit out over some welding knowledge and some trivia who doesn't love trivia and um yeah it was a a great great evening a few weeks ago and we had uh about oh gosh we had over 200 register and I think all in all we had about a hundred and twenty five actually compete in our trivia which is fun. And what we love to do is that members from across Canada um get to sign on and compete in some welding knowledge and their points when they signed up they got to select a local chapter whether they're involved with a local chapter or not you got to pick a local chapter to you and your points went towards an overall point scheme for the chapters. And internally between the chapters and the association uh we have a little competition every year to see who has the most points um and we have a little you know national championship title for each chapter and this year was big congratulations to the Regina chapter uh for having the most points it's it's always I mean it's always a battle and I'm pretty sure it was Edmonton that took it last year.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Yeah yeah and we and we vowed to never let that happen again. So we uh we came we came out swinging.

Thanks And How To Get Involved

SPEAKER_02 25:04

Yeah and it's it's cool to see the you know it's fun to get together and talk sometimes with different professionals or people you may know the industry um from other provinces that sign on you're like hey I know that so and so and I recognize that name and uh we have a lot of fun so yeah it's it's always great hosting it's it sometimes leaves to a late night uh during the weeknight but um it's always a lot of fun yeah absolutely and actually that brings me to my next topic which is you know because of this volunteer month we're highlighting a bunch of chapter members or chapter executives so um stay tuned for those episodes we're getting right back on the horse so to speak and um yeah again we're gonna be releasing weekly as long as nothing happens you know April fools or whatever but yeah so stay tuned for more episodes about our great volunteers in our community and as well as outside of our community um so yeah thanks very much for listening Daniela do you have anything else to put in no I just want to a big thank you you know to all of our our members and our chapter execs you know all the hard work that you put into this community it doesn't go unrecognized and you know I look forward I may not we may not be around for another a hundred years but um I hope in a hundred years whoever you know has taken over the association or whoever's you know continuing this legacy on looks back at all the hard work that each of you have put into this um because this is we're we're creating history here and uh I look forward to working with each of you again. So yeah let's let's see what the rest of 2026 year brings to us and uh I look forward to uh many more events and and new faces that we connect with over the years.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

Absolutely now if you do want to be a guest on the podcast reach out to Daniela or myself uh we're open to hearing any and all stories about uh people's welding journeys so thanks again for listening and we'll catch you on the next one you've been listening to the CWB Association Welding Podcast if you enjoyed what you heard today rate our podcast and visit us at cwbassociation.org to learn more.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

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