Avison Young commercial property adviser Jeff Flemington has a lot of real estate to cover in the coming weeks, but he won't be wearing business attire when he does it.
Flemington, an executive vice president and Avison Young principal plans to bike from the United States' southern border into Canada, mostly on unpaved terrain, to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society, the brokerage said.
Over five weeks from May 24 to July 3, he will follow the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from New Mexico to Alberta that will take him across five states and two provinces, Avison Young said. He has a goal of raising $55,000, of just under 40,000 U.S. dollars, for research into brain and breast cancers.
His journey will be done to recognize colleagues Sarah Campbell and Kiana Kasaei, who have battled cancer, Avison Young said.
"Although there is no comparison to the fight against cancer, I will push myself to fight against the elements in honour of incredible people like Sarah and Kiana, who persevere every day. I challenge myself to see things from a different perspective because I'm a big believer in living your life to experience as much as possible and to get outside your comfort zone," said Flemington in a statement. "As I was approaching my 55th birthday, I wanted to make a real difference, and I thought about how I could tie it to my colleagues, to my work, and to the broader commercial real estate industry, so here we are today."
He dubbed his trek "Project 55" to align with his number of years on Earth. The tens of thousands of dollars he hopes to raise, Flemington said, will be aimed at researching ways to fight anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare brain cancer, and invasive ductal carcinoma, a breast cancer found in the lining of milk ducts, two types of cancer that impacted Campbell and Kasaei, Avison Young said.
For every dollar donated, Project 55 has secured a 50% matching program through the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, home to a brain cancer clinic, and the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto that has a major focus on breast cancer research. The Canadian Cancer Society is managing the project.
"I have learned that my journey is one of resilience and perseverance," said Campbell, team lead, client services at Avison Young, in a statement. "It is also one of support and togetherness. It takes a village, and it's crucial to have a support team around you."
Kasaei said she is grateful for the project and Flemington for taking on the challenge,
"Together, we can create a world where no one lives in fear of losing their life to an illness they never chose," said Kasaei, an associate in office and industrial leasing at Avison Young, in a statement.