Wild Rock Outfitters is starting off the new year by celebrating the generosity of the Peterborough community that supported the ComPassion Project throughout the holiday season.
The outdoor gear retailer’s endowment fund, created by Wild Rock co-founder Kieran Andrews, raised more than $39,000 for six meaningful local organizations that protect natural spaces and support marginalized communities through a number of initiatives held throughout the late fall.
After he and fellow Wild Rock co-founder Scott Murison stepped back from the business in 2022, Andrews launched the ComPassion Project with the aim of helping organizations focused on environmental stewardship and social change.
“In setting up the ComPassion Project, what I really believed is that our customer base was committed to our community in the same kind of way that we are as a retailer, and I really believed that we could work together in ways that benefited our whole community,” Andrews says.
“When we do a campaign like this and it works, it’s very gratifying because it’s a sign that all of those things I believe are actually true. That’s a really, deeply satisfying thing and reaffirms what we believe about this community.”
The ComPassion Project not only financially benefits YES Shelter for Youth & Families, Peterborough Trailbuilders Association, Peterborough Bicycle Advisory Committee, Kawartha Land Trust, Fourcast Addiction Services, and One City Peterborough, but helps raise awareness of the work they do.
“We at Wild Rock have got a phenomenal clienetele and we also have tools to communicate with that clientele that are significantly broader than any of the organizations that we’re supporting,” says Andrews. “So we can amplify the messages of our partner organizations just to put their needs (and) their success stories in front of more people. That was a significant part of what made me believe that we had potential to do good things alongside our clientele on behalf of these organizations.”
Andrews shares that his own philanthropic nature comes from his father, who was also an outdoor adventurer and regularly gave in support of his community. Chris Andrews passed away in the summer of 2025.
“My family was not a wealthy one and I remember at a very young age sitting with my dad and he was writing cheques to charities,” Andrews says. “We didn’t have the kind of family where giving away money away was easy. There was not that much around, and every donation that he made would have an impact on the things that our family could do, but that did not stop him from doing it.”
He recalls what his father once told him about philanthropy.
“The way that he phrased it to me, and what stuck with me, was that it’s really a privilege to be in a position to be able to give, and those amounts don’t have to be big — it’s doing what you can within your capacity,” Andrews says.
“Giving can make your life better, as opposed to thinking that every dollar you give away makes your life a dollar poorer. It’s not like that at all. In some way, you’re richer for finding a way to give. That’s what I grew up with, that belief.”
In honour of his late father, Andrews matched donations up to $20,000 made to the ComPassion Project throughout November. With more than 70 individual donations and his matching donations, a total of $36,000 was raised.
“These small donations from people for whom that amount of money is really important, those donations are really important to me,” says Andrews. “If we had one great big donation, that would be nice. But it’s way more important to me that the stories that we tell, and how we are trying to get people to engage with our community, is something we see happening with a really significant number of individuals. It’s very satisfying to see that come out.”
Andrews notes that lot of the recent donations came with “lovely” personal comments and stories.
“A lot of our customers are at an age where they’ve lost parents themselves and it means a lot to them, and I think that my ability and my choice to speak openly about losing my dad was touching for a lot of people,” he says, noting all of the partner organizations also showed appreciation.
“I believe really strongly that the organizations that we’re supporting ultimately serve our whole community,” he says. “I want them to know that they’re supported, not just financially, but because we believe that we’re willing to put ourselves out there to support them. It’s important to me that they see it.”
Another portion of the campaign donations were collected throughout the Black Friday weekend with $5 donated for each purchase at Wild Rock raising $2,010 for the campaign. Wild Rock additionally hosted the sold-out YETI Community Film Night, which raised $1,600 through ticket sales.
Funds were also raised through Wild Again, which is Wild Rock’s trade-in and resale program. Credit from trade-ins can be used in store or online to purchase new or used gear, or can be donated to the ComPassion Project.
“Having the ability to donate to the ComPassion Project through Wild Again and turn that older Gore-Tex jacket into something meaningful in our community is really powerful for people, and it just feels like an easy way to do a good thing,” Andrews points out. “A lot of us live with more stuff in our homes that we really need, so it provides an outlet for people to do something meaningfully positive with gear that’s had some meaning in their life in the past.”
While $39,000 is no small sum to give back to the community, the late fall campaign totals are only a piece of the 2025 grants that will be going out to the partner organizations through the ComPassion Project. Wild Rock will announce those totals later in January.
“These are organizations that support our community so anything that we can do on behalf of these organizations are just investments in our community, making this a better place for all of us,” says Andrews. ”
Whether that’s raising money or telling stories or amplifying messages, it’s really all working towards putting our best foot forward to support our community and make it a better place for all of us.”
For more information on the ComPassion Project and to donate, visit www.compassionptbo.ca.
