The Victoria Community Food Hub is a crucial organization in a giant sustainable food ecosystem working to put farm-fresh grub in the bellies of all Greater Victorians.    This month, host Lucky Budd chats with Laura Gair and Colleen Popyk – two outstanding people who are working tirelessly on Food Hub initiatives that bring good food to the capital region’s most vulnerable, while feeding our robust local food economy.    The South Island FarmHub is an online farmer’s market that connects Victorians with boxes of fresh produce from local farmers, and it runs the Farm Bucks program to help subsidize this great food for charities and schools.     Kitchen Connect is a food business incubator and processing facility open to anyone wanting to learn how to start a business and process their food to be sold in stores.    Tune in for a lot more on these incredible initiatives, the faces behind them, and how you can get involved! 

For the last few years, Victoria's Jess Gibbard has been passionately working to help trans and non-binary people find their true voices, be it from her private home studio or through charitable initiatives. After transitioning herself, she learned there's large gap in BC and all over the world for gender-affirming voice training. Often, voice coaches are expensive, unavailable, or, in certain parts of the world, non-existent. On this episode, Jess tells host Lucky Budd the story of finding her own voice and her passion for helping others do the same, on top of her studies to become a speech pathologist. She talks about the necessity for affordable and accessible voice lessons in a time when more people than ever are discovering who they truly are.

Fateh Care means “winning hearts by caring.” And that’s exactly what Harjas Singh and Navneet Kaur Popli aim to do by delivering food, clothing and other necessities to people in need, through their family-fun mobile food bank called the Fateh Care Charity. When the Poplis immigrated to Canada in 2020 on the last flight from India before COVID shutdowns, they found themselves housebound, without jobs, and in need of a food bank to provide for their family. A year later in Victoria, they set their hearts on creating a charitable delivery service of their own that could bring items to those who aren’t as mobile. Since 2021, Fateh Care Charity has been filling bellies, feeding souls, and creating heartfelt connections in Greater Victoria. Tune in to an inspiring conversation with the Poplis and host Lucky Budd, about selflessness, faith, and a love for community.

Chief Constable Del Manak of the Victoria Police joins host Lucky Budd to talk about his life in the public service, and how the police are connecting with community through their non-profit and related work. Chief Manak reflects on his childhood in Victoria, his inspirations for leadership, and his vision for the future of police work at a time when more community members feel less safe overall. He also discusses the new Greater Victoria Police Foundation, which offers youth camps and one-on-one mentorships between young people and police officers, to inspire confidence, leadership, and community engagement.

Anne McIntyre says while there are services that provide food and shelter to those in need, hygiene products can often be more of an afterthought. Tune in as Anne joins host Lucky Budd on the https://victoriafoundation.bc.ca/vital-victoria-podcast/ to share the story of her journey building Soap for Hope Canada – one of the country’s only nonprofits dedicated solely to personal hygiene. Soap for Hope collects gently used and unused hygiene products, linens, and lost and found items from hotels, and redistributes them to the community. The organization now works with over 450 community facilities in B.C. and Alberta to make sure soap gets into the hands of people who need it most. Anne talks about what inspired her to start the organization and how it’s grown over the last 7 years, and how the non-profit is helping both people and the environment at the same time.

Laila Pires joins host Lucky Budd on the https://victoriafoundation.bc.ca/vital-victoria-podcast/ to tell the story of one of Canada’s first Filipino-owned community centres, and how it continues to create space for Victorians of all backgrounds to celebrate Filipino arts, food and culture. Laila, the treasurer and a founding member of the Bayanihan Cultural and Housing Society, has won numerous awards for community involvement, including the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee medal in 2012. She discusses her involvement in the region’s Filipino community after her immigration to Canada over 50 years ago. She traces the society’s early roots, how it opened its official community centre in 2001 and paid off the building’s mortgage in just 5 years, and how since then it continues to enrich Greater Victoria through events, food, and arts, in order to break down barriers and create an equitable community for everyone.

This month on the https://victoriafoundation.bc.ca/vital-victoria-podcast/, host Lucky Budd joins Janine Hannis, the Head of the Greater Victoria Alliance for Literacy (GVAL), and Christine Bossi, the Executive Director of the Victoria Literacy Connection, to talk about the community’s work to boost literacy skills in people of all ages. They discuss the community’s most pressing literacy needs today, how to tackle the stigma around low adult literacy, and how bolstering reading and digital literacy skills makes for a more confident and democratic society. They also talk about the GVAL’s recent Council of the Federation Literacy award, from the Premiers of Canada.

This month on the Vital Victoria Podcast, Rory Kulmala, the CEO of the Vancouver Island Construction Association (VICA), joins host Lucky Budd to talk about mental health and addiction issues that many are facing in the construction industry. They talk about how VICA has been educating workers about harm reduction, connecting them with local resources to help, and reducing the stigma around mental health and substance issues. They talk about how Rory’s time in the navy inspired him and his team to take action on mental health issues, and how, day by day, that action is helping save lives.

Host Lucky Budd welcomes Jack Knox to the Vital Victoria Podcast. Recently retired from the Times Colonist in Victoria, B.C., Jack shares his story on how he got his start in journalism and the first story he ever wrote covering a dead cow on the road in Kamloops. He talks about his start at the Times Colonist, from copy editor to columnist, and how his column started with a piece on men at craft fairs. They talk about the importance of local journalism and how it can help create a sense of belonging and healthy engagement in our community, and more.

Host Lucky Budd welcomes Micah Zandee Hart, a member of the Canadian Women’s National Hockey Team. Growing up on the Saanich Peninsula, Micah talks about her journey from playing minor hockey with the boys on the Peninsula to becoming the second sophomore to wear the ‘C’ when she played at Cornell University. She talks about the culture and work ethic playing for Team Canada, how the Women's gold medal game in 2002 inspired her to pursue her dream, how we can foster inclusive leadership and culture at all levels of hockey for youth, and more.