Colleen Popyk
General Manager
Colleen came to Victoria from Edmonton, Alberta in 2008 and quickly found employment at Square Root Farm/Saanich Organics and Share Organics, a former Victoria-based produce distributor. While she didn’t know it at the time, she can see now that she was setting a course in agriculture and local food distribution. Since then, she founded her own farm and also worked for Northstar Organics and Haliburton Farm. As the General Manager of the FarmHub, things have come full circle to as "I am now in a position to help grow the businesses of those that help grow me,” she says.
She has been with the FarmHub since its inception in 2020, and does everything from onboarding and supporting producers to managing the box program to leading the future of the FarmHub. She is a bit of a coleslaw connoisseur, and also loves cats; she just got her first one, Fergus, three years ago and has no idea how she has ever lived without him.
Mariah Cunningham
Production and Delivery Assistant
Mariah was born and lived in Penticton for most of her life before moving to Victoria to study political science and environmental studies with a minor in applied ethics at the University of Victoria. It wasn't until she moved here that she started to really get into local food, and eventually geared her classes and field schools in that direction.
Mariah started as a food processing assistant for our sister hub, Kitchen Connect, and now coverd all aspects of the ordering process: she meets the farmers at our aggregation site every Tuesday, packs and delivers wholesale orders, delivers home and wholesale orders, and creates and sends weekly FarmHub newsletters. She’s been loving finding ways to extend the life of local produce since starting at the FarmHub, and also enjoys cooking and sharing food with people, trying local restaurants, going to farmers markets, doing yoga, hiking, camping and swimming.
Heather Vandenengel
Marketing & Sales Coordinator
Heather grew up in a small town outside of Boston, lived in Montreal for six years, and moved to BC in 2021. Her background is originally in journalism and writing, including managing and writing for Google Travel projects and working as a beer writer. Her passion for food and volunteer work on farms led her to study Food Security through Ryerson University, and then to work at Heavenly Roots Farm on Salt Spring Island and Square Root Farm in Central Saanich.
Now she’s excited to put her diverse background to use at the FarmHub, writing about food and agriculture and engaging with the vibrant community here. Besides cooking and eating, she loves flowers, thrifting and attempting to play various racquet sports.
Chelsey Svean
Distribution and Aggregation Coordinator
Originally hailing from Fort Nelson, a small town in Northern BC, Chelsey has lived all over BC and Alberta before settling in Victoria. She has a long working background in food, including at an organic grocery store and Share Organics, and as a farmhand at Colleen’s farm. After Share Organics closed, she has continued organizing an organic bulk buy program that supports farmers on Vancouver Island and in the Okanagan.
She was the FarmHub’s first employee, and handles home and wholesale deliveries, as well as order preparation and payables/receivables. Chelsey is a music lover of all sorts, and also enjoys reading and going for summer swims with her daughter Shaye.
Jessica Stepushyn
Administrator
Raised on the island, Jessica is a retired nurse and occasional artist. For the FarmHub, she covers all aspects of behind-the-scenes administration and customer service, as well as weekly webshop updates. If you have had a question about your order or delivery, there’s a good chance Jessica has helped you with it. In addition to working here, she also volunteers for the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness.
Jessica initially joined the FarmHub because she felt disconnected from the food supply chain, and was not allowed to develop a community garden on her rental property. Working with the FarmHub has allowed her to feel more connected to local food production. Her creative hobbies include plein air painting (she won an award at the Township Plein Art Competition in 2022!) and music composition.
Carolyn & Cyndy
Volunteers
Carolyn and Cyndy started volunteering for the FarmHub in December 2020 — it was only supposed to be a three-month stint, but has since turned into many years. We are so grateful for their weekly help in the warehouse, weighing out produce items, preparing the subscription boxes and packaging orders. We could not do this without them!
Both Cyndy and Carolyn are also long-time volunteers for the LifeCycles Fruit Tree Project, gleaning fruit from trees around Victoria: Carolyn for over 25 years and Cyndy for more than 10. They are passionate about food, cooking, and supporting local farmers.
Meet The Team
The South Island FarmHub is a social enterprise of the Victoria Community Food Hub Society (VCFHS) and a partner organization of the Capital Region Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable (CRFAIR). Our small team is made up of former farmers, grocery store clerks, food enthusiasts, dedicated volunteers, and generally passionate people who care about the food system here. We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work on the traditional, unceded territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən People, known today as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations.
Interested in joining the team? See our openings here.