Vans gave out thousands of pairs shoes, clothes and hats at Chico high school gym, on December 1 to the victims of the deadliest Camp Fire in California. After the natural disaster left people homeless and displaced, the California based footwear brand went on to help these people by giving them some of the things they need.

According to Chico Enterprise Record, Steve Van Doren, the vice president of the brand said he made the 10-hour journey from Southern California to “put a smile on their faces — they’ve had some real hard weeks the last couple weeks.”

Two weeks prior to the giveaway event, Parttime Skateboarders, a skateboarding community who were part of organising the event posted the details of the event on their Instagram page.  The post was a sketch of a red bus with the words ‘Vans Fire Department’ written on it, and the details that included the timing and location of the event above it.

Although the post stated that the event will start at 9:00am, the event started earlier at 8:30am, according to the local newspaper in Chico. People queued in front of the gym from 6:30am.

Among the many people who came, some stated that they were happy to wait in the queue because they got to talk to people. Many had to move to faraway places after the fire destroyed their houses. Therefore, the queue became a place to meet new friends.

Parttime Skateboarders also collected around 100 skateboards to give to the victims of the Camp Fire in their community.

Vans is not new to donations. They have also helped the victims of the Carr Fire and the people who were affected by Hurricane Harvey and Katrina.