MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Skechers Foundation distributed checks for its largest-ever donations to children with special needs and education after a record-setting year at its 10th annual Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk, sponsored by Nickelodeon and NBC4 Southern California. Celebrities Brooke Burke and Denise Austin as well as executives from Skechers and the foundations receiving donations were on hand for a check presentation ceremony at the Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach, California on Thursday, March 7.
Among the presentations was nearly $600,000 to the non-profit organization Friendship Foundation to advance its efforts for children with special needs and their families. Additionally, checks totaling more than $1 million were presented to six education foundations. And the Skechers Foundation also continued its annual scholarship program, announcing that college scholarships will be awarded to exceptional high school students nationwide for the third year in a row.
“Since its start, the Walk has raised an incredible $11 million for our kids – and it’s all because of the tens of thousands of walkers, donors and sponsors who have believed in our event as passionately as we believe in our children,” said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. “For the past decade, they’ve supported and have rallied for us as we’ve grown into the largest event of our kind in the state. This event’s great success is really thanks to them.”
“The Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk inspires, it educates, it empowers. A generation of children have benefitted from our love and support with new opportunities that came straight out of this event,” said Brooke Burke, a long-time supporter of the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk. “I’m so honored to take part in this annual tradition of inclusiveness, positivity and belief in our kids. It’s community movements like this that are changing our children’s lives.”
Exclusively funded by the Walk’s sponsors, the Skechers Foundation’s scholarship program will offer the high school class of 2019 the latest opportunity to receive scholarships based on need and exceptional achievements in academics, athletics and leadership. Administering the program is Scholarship America® – the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships, tuition assistance and education support programs. The application at www.SkechersFriendshipWalk.com is currently available to all high school seniors in the United States; winners will be announced in early June.
In just 10 years, the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk has grown from a passionate community of a thousand that raised $220,000 in 2009, into an annual, star-studded festival – attracting celebrities including South Bay fitness guru Denise Austin, sport legends like Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Lasorda, as well as Brooke Burke, Jimmy Kimmel, and more than 13,000 people in 2018 to support children with special needs and education. In addition to the Friendship Foundation, the Walk supports educational foundations committed to improving public schools – protecting teachers’ jobs, retaining STEM and vital academic and cultural programs, maintaining smaller class sizes, improving libraries and upgrading school technology.
Greenberg continued: “We want to extend special thanks to our co-presenter Nickelodeon, media sponsor NBC4 Southern California and the more than 100 companies with a conscience, who’ve returned year after year to support our Walk, instill confidence and joy in our kids with special needs, and inspire our kids to realize their dreams and all the ways they can shape the world.”
In addition to Nickelodeon and NBC4 Southern California, The Skechers Foundation thanks the many sponsors who have contributed to the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk’s successful first decade – from The Claudette & Ethan Rickett Care Foundation and United Legwear & Apparel to dozens of other companies who have lent their support.
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 U.S.A., Inc.
Based in Manhattan Beach, California, Skechers (NYSE:SKX) 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, more than 3,000 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, India, 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 Skechers’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 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.
