Watching a countdown of the public sale’s closing minutes on Monday, Erin Holcomb couldn’t consider it: the sale worth saved leaping for the uncommon, gold Nike Air Jordan 3s that had been anonymously dropped within the donation chute of the Oregon shelter the place she works in Portland.
“In the last five minutes it went up and up, and every time we saw that number increase, there were tears and people clapping,” Holcomb, director of employees ministries on the Portland Rescue Mission, informed The Related Press.
The sneakers, one in every of only a few {custom} pairs that had been made for filmmaker Spike Lee, in the end bought for $50,800 — greater than double the excessive finish of the expected sale worth. All proceeds will profit the Portland Rescue Mission, which has served folks fighting homelessness, starvation and habit since 1949.
“We couldn’t believe it,” Holcomb stated. “The generosity of this moment has been a huge celebration for our whole organization.”
Some two dozen folks, principally employees, gathered Monday morning to observe the public sale stay on a giant display TV in one of many shelter’s convention rooms, Holcomb stated. Amongst them was James Free, a previously homeless man who discovered the footwear whereas sorting by way of donations and introduced them to the eye of the employees. Free has lived on the mission for the previous few months as a part of its long-term shelter program, Holcomb stated.
“I’m just so happy to be a part of this,” Free stated in a information launch shared by the shelter after the public sale closed. “I love this place, and I’m so glad to see this story shared.”
The sneakers had been on public sale at Sotheby’s. They had been auctioned together with a alternative field and different Nike merchandise donated by Tinker Hatfield, who customized the sneakers for Lee in 2019.
Lee wore his pair to the Academy Awards that year when he accepted an Oscar for his “BlacKkKlansman” screenplay. The donated sneakers weren’t Lee’s private pair, however had been amongst just a few made for him to present out to his interior circle, the Portland Rescue Mission stated.
Hatfield visited the shelter and authenticated the footwear. Nike is predicated in close by Beaverton, Oregon.
Holcomb stated the cash from the public sale will assist fund companies on the downtown Portland shelter, which gives meals and entry to loos and showers, in addition to well being care, housing and employment sources. It serves some 6,000 folks and 300,000 meals yearly, Holcomb stated.
“That building is open 24/7, 365 days a year,” she stated. “It’s a really beautiful, helpful gift and it is a piece of a much larger story of generosity in our community.”
The id of whoever donated the footwear stays a thriller.
