VANS DONATES OVER $1M TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES ON ITS CHECKERBOARD DAY

Vans’ third annual Vans Checkerboard Day on November 18 was a massive charitable success.

The VF Corp-owned action sports brand worked with more than 20 non-profit partners and 18,000 fans to better communities around the world through events and activities across art, action sports, music and film.

For example, Colectivo Tomate worked with the Mexico City community to transform a skatepark, keeping the local skateboarding scene. The community also created a mural painting while enjoying art workshops and skateboarding showcases.

Sustainable Coastlines created an interactive art piece about plastic pollution with the community at Waikiki Beach, Hawaii while completing a beach cleanup.

Groundswell met at Middle School 664 in Brooklyn to create a mural and host a printmaking activation for kids and the local community.

Other activations took place in Ghana; Cape Town, South Africa; and London, among others.

To further this mission to drive positive change, more than $1 million was donated by Vans and The Vans Checkerboard Fund at Tides Foundation to 15 regional charities and global partner DoSomething.org to support the mission of revitalizing communities around the world.

“Now almost two years into a global pandemic, community connectivity and public spaces have been in direct need of support,” said Doug Palladini, Vans Global Brand President. “As a brand that champions the power of creativity, it was important for us to utilize our third annual Vans Checkerboard Day as not just our biggest philanthropic moment of the year but to proactively take action through creative endeavors that drive positive change all around us. Whether fans participated in regional events, the TikTok challenge or showed support for the movement by wearing the Checkerboard pattern, each individual reinforced that we stand for something that makes the world a better place.”

Each of the 15 regional partners received US$50,000 from The Vans Checkerboard Fund at Tides Foundation or via a direct donation from Vans to continue their impact. Vans also donated $250,000 to its global partner DoSomething.org, with $25,000 going toward scholarships.

Vans customers donated a total of 5 million of their own Vans Family points through the Vans app to raise an additional $25,000 for DoSomething.org scholarships and shared how they sported their checkerboard and supported their community on November 18 through the #VansCheckerboardDay challenge on TikTok which garnered over 11 billion video views.

Since the inception of Vans Checkerboard Day in 2019, Vans has donated more than $3 million to creative charities globally, enabling creative expression in communities around the world