While a lucky winner will soon have a brand new garden shed to call his or her own, the real winners are the local Lions and women involved the project.
For the past several years, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 247 training centre has provide the Women in Trades Training program that gives young women exposure to the trades. Eighteen women from around the Lower Mainland are currently enrolled in the program
"I love it," said New Westminster resident Melissa Lance. "I love that I am, by the end of this, independent and making a future for me and my children."
Lance was among the crew of women who recently spent a week at the Sapperton Pensioners' Hall building an eight-by-eightfoot shed for the New Westminster Lions. The Lions Club sold Gardeners Grand Slam raffle tickets to raise funds for two bursaries that it offers at New Westminster Secondary School in honour of former Lions Frank Trapp and Gary Gartner.
"They are really excited to get to do something hands-on instead of being in a classroom for the last few weeks," said Jeff Huot, coordinator of the Women in Trades Training program. "They enjoy working with their hands."
Don Laslo, a Red Seal carpenter who's been involved with the United Food and Commercial Workers union's Discovery to Apprenticeship program, had been asked to help out in the Women in Trades program. He has previously done some renovations at the Sapperton hall and knew it had the space to accommodate the project.
"This is a first for us doing a community project," Huot said. "It gives them the experience of doing something. It also gives them the opportunity to give back."
Vic Leach, who does publicity for the New Westminster Lions Club, met Laslo while he was working on renovations at Sapperton Pensioner Hall last year.
"He got plans made up for the shed. They are going to go from looking at the plans to putting it together," Leach said. "The hall gets a rental for a week. That means it is good for them. It's good for the students, and it's good for the Lions."
Lance, who has four children between the ages of five and 14, said she's been a single mother for the past six years. While she's been lucky to have the support of her parents and sister, she's looking forward to finding a career that helps her provide for her family.
"We get paid $9.50 a hour, five days a week, six hours a day," Lance said about the Women in Trades Training program. "It was too good to be true."
Diamond Delavalle, 21, said she was searching for a waitressing or retail job when she found the advertisement.
"I read it out loud. My dad heard me and he said, 'You should call,'" she said, adding he's a roofer/roof inspector. "We have been around trades our whole life."
Delavalle now hopes to pursue a career in the trades, although she hasn't decided which trade to pursue. She noted that the female students get some strange looks from people when they see them in their steel-toed shoes and vests.
"I don't think people look down on you, but they are surprised," she said. "A lot of women you see in trades are flagging, they are not on worksites."
Delavalle, who is mom to two children under the age of four, has enjoyed the program.
"It's very cool, it's very rewarding," she said. "I like it. Every day you come here, you learn to do more."
Huot estimates that more than a hundred women have taken part in the 10-week Women in Trades Training program during the past five years, and many have gone on to apprentice in various trades.
"We do some life skills things, conflict resolution, self-esteem, some workshops on health and nutrition," he said. "We do essential skills upgrades, especially with math. There is a math component to any trade you go into. We go on tours of training centres. We do some hands-on experiences."
Although none of the women in this particular class have indicated they'll be pursuing carpentry as a career, Laslo said the skills used in carpentry are transferable to other trades. These include measuring skills and working with teammates.
Laslo said the winner of the shed will get a product that's different than something they could purchase at a big box store, as it includes a base and is built to the B.C. Building Code.
Mike Clark, a Red Seal mechanic, said the women will also get hands-on training in sheet metal shop and in framing.
"There are 140 trades in B.C.," said Clark, the program's assistant coordinator. "Of that, there are about 45 that are Red Seal, which is an interprovincial ticket which is good across Canada. Each one of them has branches of specialized areas."
Clark said people working in the trades generally earn between $25 and $45 an hour (or higher), depending on the trade they're working in.
"It makes a good, steady income. When you are making $35 an hour, it's better than $9.50," he said. "That's good coin."
In addition to hands-on experiences, the women do Internet research and tours that help them determine if they're interested in the trades and which particular trade has the most appeal.
"It gives them a taste of it," Laslo said about the New Westminster-based program. "A lot of them may not go into the trades, but they are getting experience and learning job skills"
Lance, 32, has thoroughly enjoyed the experience and believes her days of waitressing and housecleaning may be behind her.
Having already received training in forklift driving through the program, she's considering driving a forklift or pursuing further studies in pipefitting or welding.
"This is an opportunity of a lifetime," she said. "The is definitely a big eye-opener for me. I can't wait to make more money.
"I think more women should definitely look at getting into the trades. This has been a very empowering program for me.
"You don't need to be all big and buff and strong in the trades. More women need to realize that."
