The Happy Camper: My Merch is Helping Send Kids in Need to Camp!
Great news! ExploreWEAR x The Happy Camper merchandize collab is working out extremely well to help Camp Outlook. According to the first commission sales report for the initial month the project was released, back in November of 2025, we made enough to take at least two or three youth on an extensive canoe trip this summer through Camp Outlook—and that was just the first month of sales!
Ten percent of all sales benefit Camp Outlook, a registered Ontario charity based in Kingston, Ontario, which encourages young people from 13 to 17 years old to develop their inner strength, self-worth and capacity to succeed by giving them the opportunity to participate in extended backcountry canoe expeditions free of charge.
These are kids who couldn’t go on a canoe trip for various reasons—but now they can because you’re wearing the Thrive T-Shirt along a muddy portage, drinking morning coffee out of the No Problems Camp Mug, sipping on a wee dram of whisky out of the Whisky Fireside Rocks Glass or just tossing your groceries in the Canoe Trip Tote Bag.
How cool is that!
Again, this was just the first month. Imagine beyond that! Thanks so much for helping with this. I’ve got to know some of the leaders/volunteers over the last few months and I’ve got to say, we are NOT wasting our time or money.
For your interest’s sake, here are the top sellers:
- Whisky Fireside Rocks Glass won big time. No surprise there. LOL.
- Second place was the No Problems Camp Mug.
- The No Problems Hoodie did better than the crew neck—but my mom prefers the crew neck.
- The “I Don’t Get Homesick at Camp, I Get Campsick at Home” t-shirt’s sales tied with the “Another Bend In the River” t-shirts… but the Carolina blue colour won overall.
- The “Don’t Just Survive, Thrive” t-shirt came in third for t-shirt sales, maybe because black flies and mosquitoes are attracted to the colour black.
- The embroidered toque did well. I’ve been wearing mine even around the house rather than putting the furnace temperature up a notch.
- The 3/4 raglan shirts sales were lower than the regular t-shirts. But my daughter’s university roommates preferred the raglan shirts. Interesting.
- The green Dad Hat is selling better than the black Dad Hat. I ordered both. The black coloured one for my urban lifestyle and the green one for camp life.
Lowest selling products were the Five-Panel Cap, tote bag and The Happy Camper Packable Jacket. Interesting because the first thing my partner ordered was the tote bag and the first thing I ordered was the portable jacket. Who knew?
It doesn’t really matter what sells more or less—each product is “print on demand”—what matters is that this initiative that Explore Magazine and myself created is to help out Camp Outlook… and it’s definitely doing that. Yay!
