Hello, I’m Todd Evalina and it’s nice to meet you.

An aerial view of rocks and ocean waves crashing against them.
Todd Evalina standing on rocky shore holding up a large piece of seaweed, wearing rain gear and a headlamp, with ocean and overcast sky in the background.

As an experienced entrepreneur, I bring over 20 years of business leadership, fundraising, and problem-solving to everything I do. During my career, I’ve lead purpose-driven work for local and global organizations, helping them to simplify the process of making scary, complicated decisions.

Together with my partner, Sarah, I also run Dawn Patrol Supply Co here in Ucluelet. We create handcrafted keepsakes using sustainable, salvaged materials and we also produce food and beverage products using local land and aquatic plants from this region.

In community, I’m a member of the District of Ucluelet’s Accessibility Committee, the Vice President for our MLA’s riding executive, a Member at Large for our MP’s riding executive, and a new board member at the Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce. I also regularly volunteer my time at a number of local organizations and events, such as, Clayoquot Biosphere Trust, Ukee Days, and Coastal Queers Alliance, to name a few.

Long straight rural road with double yellow lines, snow-covered fields, and cloudy sky in the distance.

Where are you from?

I’m a third-generation Canadian settler of Scottish-Slovak ancestry, born in a small farming community on Treaty Six Territory (Northern Alberta). The population of my hometown was 500 people; long days, hard work, community cooking, and handshake agreements were a staple of everyday life.

As a young child, I spent free time helping in family businesses, then later working as a dishwasher, chef, server, groundskeeper, carpenter, mechanic, salesperson, cattle farmer, and electrician, until moving to British Columbia 22 years ago. At the time, everything I owned fit spaciously into a 300 sqf. studio. With a negative balance on my chequing account and thousands of dollars in student and personal loan debt, I survived on canned soup, rice, and frozen venison steaks from game I’d hunted in the forests where I grew up.

I empathize with anyone who has struggled to pay rent, worked all-nighters, and had a dream to achieve a better life, all while striving to participate meaningfully in community.

Drying or curing pasta shapes on a mesh surface inside a wooden frame.

For example:

As a previous director with Tofino Community Food Initiative (TCFI), I’ve written grants and helped secure over $45,000 in federal funding for their ‘Sowing Seeds Across Generations’ program to support intergenerational learning and seniors aging in place.

With TCFI, I also created and delivered fundraising initiatives to support gardening and food security programs in our community. These initiatives ranged from hand-making over 2,000 Smoked Kelp Farfalle (Bowtie Pasta) to partnering with Space Ukee to host their first “Flash Tattoo Day” where artists tattooed vegetables for dozens of local and international customers.

Then, later, in partnership with Space Ukee, we replicated this successful Flash Tattoo Day event to raise over $1,000 in additional funds for organizations like the Ucluelet Aquarium Society and Coastal Queers Alliance.

An aerial view of a rocky shoreline with waves crashing against the rocks and a forested area at the top of the image.

Sarah and I were able to purchase our first home here in Ucluelet in 2021. This opportunity has allowed us housing security for the first time in our adult lives, and we dream for others to have the opportunity to rent or own stable housing that suits their needs.

Last year, we welcomed our first child into this community, and we look forward to raising him alongside the wonderful people who call this place home.