The thread that connects Kandys Merola to her decades of volunteer work with the Royal Canadian Legion is clear: it’s an affiliation that runs strongly through her family.
Kandys’s grandfather served with the Canadian Army in France at Vimy Ridge, and her mother, Catherine (nee-Wilkinson) Schaff, one of Canada’s “bomb girls,” joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corp during the Second World War.
Catherine set the example for Kandys by making volunteering a part of her life. She found time to do so in addition to her regular work requirements (including 17 years in a full-time position at Inglewood Nursing Home in West Vancouver) and while raising a family with her husband, John Schaff, a decorated WWII veteran, who passed away in 2005 after almost 60 years of marriage.
Catherine has given her time to several groups over the years, including the North Vancouver Recreation Centre, Riverview Hospital, the Silk Purse Art Gallery, and St. Christopher’s Anglican Church.
“I love people and giving back to my community,” she says. “It has helped keep me young as I near the grand age of 95.”
The family’s approach to volunteerism is strongest with the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 44, where both mother and daughter have been active since 1985, tirelessly volunteering for 35 years each. In fact, all six of Catherine’s children are members of Branch 44.
Catherine started attending meetings with her husband in the early 1960s before increasingly taking on diverse roles with Branch 44, including many positions on the executive. She has been involved in planning and organizing social events, attending conventions, poppy tagging, and visiting the sick. She has distinguished herself by always being ready to lend a helping hand with her warm and cheerful personality.
Kandys, also the CEO of the TB Vets Charitable Foundation, has been tremendously active with the Legion’s Tuberculous Veterans Section (TVS) during her time with Branch 44. First as President of the TVS Branch 44 and then as TVS National President, Kandys has worked to ensure the organization remains relevant and successful.
“Legion TVS Branch 44 created the TB Vets Charitable Foundation as a way to give back to the community,” says Kandys. “I am a member of both organizations as were my veteran parents. They were quietly humble and proud of the work they did with the Legion and with TB Vets. I saw them work tirelessly to help TB Vets become a success, and I am proud to carry on their legacy of giving back to the community.”
Like her mother, Kandys has shared her time with a number of other groups, including the Anglican Church, the Harmony Arts Festival, the Coho Salmon Festival, and with children’s little league.
“I watched my mother lovingly spend time listening to people, and that is her secret to lifelong volunteering,” says Kandys. “Mom is a good listener, and people love her for it. I’ve copied Mom’s compassionate ways with volunteering, and she has been a great influence on me and my children.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented Catherine from being as actively involved as in past years, a lifetime of volunteering carries on in the efforts of Kandys.
“Of course, I am very proud of my daughter,” says Catherine. “She is an accomplished business woman and constant volunteer. I have watched her give generously of her time, and I know she loves it because she makes it look effortless.”
Jason Howe writes and oversees communications in the charitable sector and is a former broadcast journalist.
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