Hundreds of Vans shoes given away to those in need at pop-up event in SLO

Hundreds of San Luis Obispo County residents in need got stylish new kicks in a first-of-its-kind event this week — and none of them spent a penny.

At a donation event hosted Monday and Tuesday at Transitions-Mental Health Association’s High Street headquarters in San Luis Obispo, members of the nonprofit worked with Pismo Beach’s Vans shoe outlet to give out hundreds of new pairs of shoes for free to any community member who needed them.

Amanda Brill, a client of the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County, said she was grateful to get a new pair of shoes that fit her properly.

“I have friends of mine who have zip ties on their laces, and the soles in their shoes are completely gone out,” Brill told The Tribune.”It makes it a lot easier to get around with shoes that actually get you to the place you want to go.”

TMHA community resource coordinator Clara Cobb said the event provided more than 200 people with new pairs of Vans on Monday, and would likely give out a similar number over the course of the second day.

“A lot of the time when you get a donation, you just get what you get,” Cobb said. “This really gives people the freedom of choice to get what they really want.”

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The chance to provide footwear for so many at no cost arose partly out of a coincidence.

Pismo Beach Vans outlet manager Andrea Avina said she and Cobb knew each other from high school, so when the opportunity to give away shoes through a local nonprofit presented itself, Avina reached out to Cobb to set up the event.

The event was made possible by a surplus of more than 1,500 older pairs of Vans shoes that were set to be replaced with newer styles, Avina said.

“We were sitting on a ton of product after COVID — people just weren’t shopping like they were,” Avina said. “We were just still receiving a whole lot of product and instead of damaging it out, why not donate it?”

In total, more than $150,000 worth of merchandise was set aside for donation, Avina said, spanning more than 50 styles and sizes for babies through adulthood.

“Each store location is able to donate their damaged product — things that might be missing a button, or there’s a stuff on it, something that someone doesn’t want,” Avina said. “But it’s something that would be silly to throw out, so Vans asks all of the store managers to find an organization locally, and they donate all of their damaged product to them.”

Cobb said any community member was welcome to get a pair of shoes, though TMHA put out notices to clients and other community partners ahead of time to make sure people in need got them first.

Large selection of shoes available for those in need

TMHA and Vans chose to run the donation event more like a pop-up shoe store to provide the walk-in store experience to clients and make sure they got what they needed, Cobb said.

Vans’ “MTE” shoes, which are made for outside wear, were some of the more popular shoes at the pop-up shop because of their appeal to homeless residents who experience all types of weather, Avina said.

“Since it’s like a hiking boot, if you’re on your feet all day that’s the way to go,” Avina said. “It’s a durable shoe made for the elements — that’s the one that I’ve been seeing a lot of people super pumped on.”

One customer who declined to share his name said he heard about the event through word of mouth and jumped at the chance to replace his failing sneakers.

He said just days earlier, he had taken his sneakers — which were starting to lose their soles — from a trash can to replace his own pair of shoes, which were stolen overnight.

“I’m super grateful that they have something like this available, because without that, how long would I have been wearing these shoes?” he said.

Avina said though the event won’t get through all of the store’s surplus, she intends to continue providing free footwear at similar pop-up events in neighboring counties.

“Every Vans around the country does this, which is really cool,” Avina said. “We just didn’t expect it to be on this level.”