Picture Would be too Gory

We’ve all heard about a flock of birds flying into an airplane and causing extensive damage. We can relate. Not that a flock of birds hit us…it only took one bird, flying into the Soles4Souls RV mirror as we cruised down an LA freeway to inflict some damage. We heard a loud “thud” and suddenly had our outside mirror dangling from a few wires. The bird actually cracked the heavy duty plastic surrounding the mirror. After a quick stop at Lowe’s, Allan applied a plastic epoxy, and with the help of Duct tape, our mirror is almost good as new. You’ll understand why we didn’t take a picture of the bird.

Vans Donates 10,000 Pairs of Shoes

Do we look like Vans' skateboarders?

Vans employees touring the RV

We were honored to visit the Vans corporate office and meet Steve Van Doren and Jenny Lamott. Vans donated 10,000 pairs of shoes to survivors and volunteers of the Haiti earthquake as part of an industry-wide relief effort mounted by Soles4Souls. Jenny gave us a tour of the building, which conveyed the “edgy” appeal of Vans products. They even have an indoor skateboard half-pipe where their staff, athletes and spokespeople try out their cool skateboarding moves. Jenny gave Allan, Sondra and me Vans T-shirts, so we posed in what we consider cool skateboard moves. (Don’t expect us to be Vans athletes anytime soon!) I shared with the Vans’ staff how a boy in a remote village in El Salvador came up to us as we distributed shoes and asked “Vans? Vans?” Evidently Vans shoes have impacted kids in places where electricity and running water don’t exist.
Later that evening, I met a 12-year-old boy at a shoe distribution. We only had a pair of boots in his size. He politely explained that he had bad feet and needed to wear orthodics. He described how his only pair of shoes, (well-worn Vans!) held his orthodics in place perfectly. After a quick e-mail to Jenny, she assured me a new pair of Vans would be sent to his house. That’s customer service!