MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Skechers Foundation broke new fundraising records for children with special needs and education at Sunday’s 10th annual Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk, surpassing $2 million in contributions and totaling over $11 million since the Walk’s launch. Supported by lead presenter Nickelodeon and media sponsor NBC4 Southern California, the event was attended by more than 15,000 walkers and participants as well as numerous entertainment and sport celebrities, including legendary boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, actress and model Brooke Burke and fitness icon Denise Austin.
“At 10 years, the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk is bigger and better than ever,” said Brooke Burke. “In the many years I’ve taken part, I’ve seen this event grow from a community movement to the largest event of its kind in California. The one thing that never changes is the commitment that all of these families and friends have for their children. It’s such an incredible model for the great things that our community can do for our kids.”
“This event has affected thousands of our kids in profound ways,” added Michael Greenberg, co-founder of the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk. “The children attending have grown up seeing the great impact a community can have, whether it’s their parents walking for their education, or how they can personally support kids with special needs through more than 33 Friendship Foundation school clubs in the South Bay. At a time when bullying continues to be a concern, we’ve raised a generation who is more sensitive to the needs of those who are different from them, thanks in part to this event and the Friendship Foundation. And I can’t wait to start our next decade of encouraging positive change in our community through this Walk.”
The Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk has raised more than $11 million since its launch in 2009. Funds support The Friendship Foundation, an organization that assists children with special needs and their families through one-on-one peer mentoring and social recreational activities such as summer camps, outings to sporting events and a variety of classes that include music, yoga, cooking, art and drama. The Walk also funds education foundations committed to retaining vital academic programs, maintaining smaller classes, improving libraries and upgrading school technology, and also supports the Skechers Foundation’s annual scholarship program, which will donate $100,000 to deserving students across the country in 2019.
In addition to performances by seven-year-old singing sensation Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, upcoming High School Musical star Joshua Bassett, Nayah Damasen, Dream Crew and Pynk Le’monade, fans enjoyed autographs and photographs with characters SpongeBob and Patrick, and young celebrities from shows like Nickelodeon’s Knight Squad, NBC’s This is Us and CBS’ Young Sheldon.
The Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk thanks its headlining sponsor Nickelodeon, media sponsor NBC4 Southern California and numerous additional sponsors, including: The Claudette & Ethan Rickett Care Foundation, Steel Sports, Ross Stores, Moose Toys, Continental Development, Vertra Suncare, JR 286, Kinecta Federal Credit Union, Northrup Grumman, Marshalls, Wells Fargo, United Legwear, Chevron, and more than 100 other companies who have supported our children.
To learn more about the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk, please visit skechersfriendshipwalk.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Skechers Foundation
The Skechers Foundation was established to provide families around the world with the necessities and skills to succeed in life. In addition to organizing the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk, the Skechers Foundation funds tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that provide education and job training, shoes, clothing, fitness and nutrition guidance to communities in need.
About Skechers USA, Inc.
Skechers USA, Inc., based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women. Skechers footwear is available in the United States and over 170 countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores, 2,800 Skechers Company-owned and third-party-owned retail stores, and the Company’s e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia and the Middle East, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, throughout Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include international economic, political and market conditions including the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2018. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and the companies cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can the companies assess the impact of all such risk factors on their respective businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.
