Cambodia Challenge for Shelter trekkers raise $1.6M for Royal LePage Shelter (source: WENU Media Production)
A team of 117 people completed a five-day trek in Cambodia this month, raising $1.6 million for the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, the company shared.
Participants faced nearly 100 kilometres of jungle trails, rice paddies, temples and mountainous terrain under sweltering heat and high humidity. Trekking in four waves over three days, the group encountered mud, blisters, heat rashes and jet lag, relying on each other and a farm tractor carrying supplies along the rural route.
‘We walk so others have a path toward safety and new beginnings.’
Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage, joined the trek and praised the team for enduring the physical and emotional challenges of the trek. “We hiked through oppressive jungle heat and along treacherous mud trails; slept with exotic things that slithered, croaked and climbed; and got comfortable with a whole lot of doubt — and we did it together,” he said. “Every step we took raised money for our beloved Royal LePage Shelter Foundation. This wasn’t just a trek. It was a statement: we walk so others have a path toward safety and new beginnings.”
Participants also read letters recounting experiences of intimate partner violence, written by fellow trekkers, which organisers said provided both a sobering and motivating reminder of the foundation’s mission to support women and children in need of safety and healing.
Inspired to persevere
“Reading these powerful letters each day recentered us,” said Tory Brown with Royal LePage Estate Realty in Toronto. “The brutal heat almost took me down on the first day. I truly had moments when I didn’t think I could go on. But after hearing the account of abuse and resilience experienced by someone walking alongside me, I knew I had to keep going. To keep hiking and to keep fundraising so that other women don’t need to experience this senseless violence.”
The trekkers’ journey included stops at temples, pagodas, the Kulen waterfall, and Cambodia’s sacred mountain, as well as time at Angkor Wat. Along the way, participants encountered the generosity and hospitality of local Cambodians, who offered support and encouragement.
Top fundraiser collected more than $56k
David Coccia of Capstone Real Estate Professionals at Royal LePage Royal City Realty in Guelph, Ont., was named this year’s top fundraiser, collecting more than $56,000. “I feel so much gratitude having completed this trek. I’m thankful for each and every donor who supported me and our mission to make home a safe place for everyone,” he said.
The bi-annual Challenge for Shelter is one of several fundraising treks organised by the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, following previous journeys in Ecuador, the Purcell Mountains, the Sahara Desert, Iceland and Machu Picchu. Participants cover all their travel and trekking costs and are required to raise a minimum of $6,000 to take part.
The total raised through the foundation’s ‘Challenge for Shelter’ series now exceeds $6.3 million.
