Star Trek gear beams down into the Tenderloin

Much like the elusive Trekkie fandom itself, the homeless in San Francisco made residents wonder what all the hubbub was about.

It started when homeless in the Tenderloin started sporting mysterious Star Trek hats that brandished the phrase: “Star Trek: The Ride.”

Where did the hats come from, residents asked? Have all these TL “residents” been Trekkies the whole time?

Turns out, SFWeekly reports the hat was actually a rather popular item distributed by  St. Anthony’s Foundation, located on Golden Gate and Jones.

LiveNation donated the eyebrow-raising hats, and are one of the most sought-after items ever donated by St. Anthony’s.

Strange, yes. But it’s certainly not the strangest thing to be passed out to SF’s needy community. The nonprofit oft receives clothing from races and other big, fancy events, including the golf tournament attended by Tiger Woods himself and hosted by the Olympic Club.

This year, LiveNation also donated other rarities, including T-shirts sporting Mariah Carey and Enrique Iglesias. And let’s face it — who listens to those guys anymore?

In addition to oddball gear, the foundation has been known to accidentally give away thousands of dollars, like the $2,000 in cash found rolled up in a tossed suit in the past few years.

But as sweet as it was to give away rad and possibly rare Stark Trek merchandise to the homeless, it’s even sweeter that most of it was given away to the Navy football team, which hung out on SF turf for December’s Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

If you’ve got shirt, caps or a plethora of other memorabilia you can’t get rid of, find St. Anthony’s at stanthonysf.org.