Community Foundation Of Greater Peterborough
The Wild Rock ComPassion Project operates under the umbrella of the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough. The Foundation has actively supported Peterborough since its inception in 2009, distributing over $6M as well as establishing a significant endowment fund, which will be used to help create a vital community for everyone.
The Community Foundation specializes in building funds to support the community. What they offer us is the most well-informed advice in the city paired up with logistical support for collecting donations, managing investments, and issuing tax receipts for eligible donations.
In its first years, a significant portion of the funds raised by the Wild Rock ComPassion Project will be distributed to our charitable partners in need as quickly as possible while the balance of the funds will be used to serve the community for years to come.
Questions For The Foundation
Jennifer Debues, Executive Director
Briefly explain the work of the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough.
The Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough works with donors and the local charitable sector to help create a vital community for everyone. The Community Foundation stewards over $12 million in assets that will enrich and sustain the community for years to come. Thanks to the generosity of donors across the community whose resources are pooled for greater impact, the Community Foundation has granted over $6 million to local charities from Apsley to Millbrook since 2009.
What do you believe will be the most part of the relationship between the foundation and the Wild Rock ComPassion Project?
Caring is the first step in building community so I love how compassion is a corner store of this project. Wild Rock and the Community Foundation share a lot of values so we’re excited about supporting Wild Rock’s staff and customers as you explore the connections between places and people you love and care about, and tap into the spirit of giving, all with the goal of leaving the community a little richer for the experience.
In all of your years at the Foundation what is the most satisfying project that you have been involved with?
You’ll often hear me say “I’ve got the best job in town” so I’m spoiled for choice when trying to answer this question. Meeting with amazing, caring people is definitely the best part but I think the most satisfying project is the ongoing practice of embedding participatory grantmaking in our grant decision process. Involving representatives of local charities and using their enormous knowledge and experience to inform decision-making helps put the community at the heart of the Foundation, and builds opportunities for empathy, learning and collaboration in the process. Bringing people together to strengthen the community is central to the work of the Community Foundation.
Can you share a story or situation that you wish more people in Peterborough knew?
I think the charitable sector as a whole is underappreciated in the community. There are over 300 registered charities throughout the City and County of Peterborough providing services that meet the needs of people throughout the area and beyond. The great irony is that a lot of times we don’t see the work of charities because they’re doing such a great job of meeting those needs usually with very limited resources.