Royal LePage brokers and agents from across Canada cruised from Vancouver to Los Angeles for the 25th annual Royal LePage Headstart conference recently aboard the Ruby Princess.

Prior to boarding, a group of Royal LePage motorcyclists spent a day riding through the Lower Mainland area and extended the ride to include the famed Whistler resort region. The Ride for Shelter, the brainchild of Royal LePage Foothills agents John Hripko and Josh Nelson of Calgary, has become an annual tradition prior to Royal LePage conferences, with agents from across Canada hitting the road in support of the company’s charity, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation.

Once aboard the ship, fundraising for the foundation again took centre stage with heated bidding bringing in $39,000 in a popular live auction overseen by Kent Browne and Hanna Browne of Royal LePage Team Realty in Ottawa.

During the auction, the infamous Royal LePage Faux Fur Coat found its new home with successful bidder Carol Rooney of Royal LePage Connect Realty in Ajax, Ont. The coat is auctioned to a new owner every year. The total raised to date from this thrift-store find turned company treasure is now more than $50,000.

The fundraising continued upon docking when approximately 40 agents on their way to Los Angeles contributed the equivalent cost of their transportation to the foundation with a matching donation by George Grdic of Royal LePage Real Estate Services in Mississauga, Ont.