,

Several Air Jordan 3’s, including a custom gold pair that filmmaker Spike Lee wore when he won his first Oscar, will be up for auction where the proceeds will benefit a local shelter in Portland, the Associated Press reports.

Interestingly, the sneakers were anonymously dropped in the donation chute at the Portland Rescue Mission in the spring before James Free, a formerly homeless man now involved in the mission’s long-term shelter program discovered them while going through the donations.

“They’re hard to miss when they were in our donation bin,” Erin Holcomb, director of the staff ministry at Portland Rescue Mission told Oregon Public Broadcasting. “I think the reason that they stood out was because they are gold, bright gold, every surface inside is bright red, like red-carpet red. So they’re pretty noticeable when you see them, but they look really cool.”

“I think I am the person of miscellaneous items,” said Holcomb. “I wonder if I had been the one sorting if I would have thought to set them aside. I’m so glad he did,” Holcomb continued. “But I’ll tell you in the 17 years I’ve been with Portland Rescue Mission, I don’t think we’ve ever resold something. We’ve always just given it right out because mostly it’s very well-used things that are donated.”

The shoes were designed by noted Nike designer Tinker Hatfield, who worked closely with Michael Jordan on numerous sneakers, who customized the shoes for Lee and he wore them as he accepted the Academy Award for writing the screenplay for his 2018 film “BlacKKKlansman.” 

Although the kicks weren’t the actual pair that Lee had on during the ceremony, they were a part of his collection that Nike gave him to give to his friends and family, according to the Portland Rescue Mission.

“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.”

To ensure the authenticity of the sneakers, Hatfield paid a visit to the shelter, authenticated the shoes, signed a replacement box, and donated more Nike merch to the mission.

The shoes were on auction at Sotheby’s until Monday (Dec. 18), and are expected to garner “ $15,000 to $20,000.”. 

To make sure that the mission receives all of the proceeds from the sale of the sneakers, Sotheby’s is waiving its fee.