Someone dropped these $26K Spike Lee Air Jordans in a homeless shelter's donation bin
'Those shoes are going to provide thousands of meals for people that we serve,' says Portland Rescue Mission
Volunteer James Free was sorting through items in the Portland Rescue Mission's donation bin when something shiny caught his eye.
Amid all the usual hand-me-downs was a pair of bright gold men's sneakers without so much as a scuff on them.
He didn't yet know it, but he'd stumbled upon a pair of extremely rare Nike Air Jordan 3s, custom made for director Spike Lee ahead of the 2019 Academy Awards.
The shoes are now up for auction by Sotheby's, which estimates they will fetch as much as $20,000 US (about $26,750 Cdn) for the mission. The organization has helped people struggling with homelessness, hunger and addiction since 1949.
"Those shoes are going to provide thousands of meals for people that we serve," Erin Holcomb, the mission's director of staff ministry, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
"It's just a really beautiful picture of generosity."
'Why would they be in our donation bin?'
The sneakers stood out from the usual fare tossed down the mission's donation chute, a repurposed McDonald's playground slide installed on the floor of the mission's shelter in Portland, Ore.
"I could quickly tell just from Googling that they looked just like these Spike Lee shoes that he wore to the Oscars," Holcomb said. "But I thought, of course they're not those shoes. Why would they be in our donation bin?"
Figuring they might be replicas, she took them to a high-end sneaker store to find out.
"The people in the sneaker shop took them into the back room, so I didn't see their initial reaction. But when they came out, they were holding them very carefully and they said, 'These are the real thing. They're very rare,'" she said.
The size 12.5 men's sneakers are likely not the exact pair Lee wore when accepting Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for BlacKkKlansman, she said. The filmmaker has previously said he wears size 9.5.
But they are one of about five pairs of the custom shoes that were designed specifically for Lee and members of his inner-circle ahead of the awards show. The shoes have never been released publicly.
The sneaker shop offered Holcomb $10,000 US for the shoes right there on the spot.
"I just asked for some time to think about it," she said. "I wanted to make sure … that we could really make the best decisions to benefit the rescue mission and the work that we do here."
Nike designer Tinker Hatfield steps up
On a whim, she reached out to Tinker Hatfield, a legendary Nike designer and Portland local who designed the kicks in collaboration with Lee.
"I was not sure if we would hear back at all," she said. "It was just a shot in the dark."
Not only did Hatfield write back and confirm the shoes' authenticity. He also donated framed concept art for the sneakers, as well as a brand new box, which he signed.
"I'm thrilled the shoes ended up here," Hatfield said in a statement shared by the Portland Rescue Mission. "It's a happy ending to a really great project."
Holcomb says she has no idea who donated the sneakers, but she suspects it must be one of Lee's friends. The director himself has not commented.
"Maybe they were just trying to do a good deed without, you know, getting much attention," she said. "But we are so incredibly grateful because those shoes will be turned into so much more that we can do at our shelter."
Holcomb says every $2 US donation to the mission allows them to provide one hot meal to a person in need. And every meal is an opportunity to get someone off the street and connect them with services.
That's how Free, the volunteer who made the golden discovery, became involved with the organization. He'd been living on the streets with alcoholism when a family member connected him to a 45-day in-patient recovery program in 2022.
When he got out, he went to the shelter for something to eat and a place to stay as he began putting his life back together. His work sorting clothes at the mission's donation warehouse is part of his vocational training.
The shoes are on auction until Monday. Sotheby's is waiving its usual fee, and 100 per cent of the winning bid will benefit the mission.
"I just hope that it draws people's attention to people struggling with homelessness and addiction," she said. "People like James, who discovered these shoes in the first place."
Free was not available for an interview, but in a press release, he said he's thrilled the find will help so many people.
He also offered some advice to others people struggling with homelessness in addiction: "Let someone help you."
Interview with Erin Holcomb produced by Chloe Shantz-Hilkes
