It was a sea of pink at the Brookstreet Hotel on May 16 as Royal LePage Team Realty hosted their annual Denim Day breakfast and auction fundraiser. With proceeds earmarked for breast cancer treatment and care, the more than 300 guests took the dress code seriously, sporting everything from pink stilettos and sneakers to hot pink suits and blazers.
The fundraiser featured more than 50 silent action items and close to 50 live auction lots, all of which were donated by the Royal LePage team. Kent Browne, founder and one of the current owners of Royal LePage Team Realty, served as the superstar auctioneer for the morning. Along with adding a healthy dose of laughter to the morning, he expertly navigated his way through the auction, selling a number of hot ticket items including a lobster dinner for 12, custom stand-up paddleboard, a suite for the Morgan Wallen concert and a Westboro restaurant tour. But, the first item up for bids was ‘the tie that started it all’ – a necktie that was at the heart of the first auction back in 2001. Since that time, the tie has been auctioned off every year and then donated back to be auction off again the following year. Bidding was fast and furious on the legacy tie – with the opening bid of $100 quickly snapped up. After a bidding frenzy, the time was sold a short time later to realtor Koussei Kurbaj for a cool $600. Once the last item was auctioned off, more than $60,000 was raised.
Queensway Carleton Hospital Foundation is proud to be one of the recipient charities from Denim Tuesday, with funds raised being directed towards the 4K technology upgrades to the QCH surgical suites. Last year, 612 surgical procedures related to cancer treatment were conducted in the OR’s at QCH, with 259 specifically for breast cancer patients. QCH Foundation has raised $1.5 million for this revolutionary $2.5 million project.
A huge thank you to Mary and Kent Browne, their family and the entire team at Royal LePage Team Realty for their tremendous efforts to support charitable causes in our community. Along with raising funds for QCH Foundation this month, they have also shared a favourite family recipe with us for May’s Cooking with the Q. Enjoy!