12th Annual Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk Announces Star-studded Virtual Event to Raise $2 Million for Kids
Tony Romo, Sugar Ray Leonard, AGT Winner Kodi Lee and More Celebrities Gather Online to Raise Funds for Children with Special Needs, Schools and Scholarships
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk is gathering virtually this year to continue its fundraising campaign for kids during the COVID-19 shutdown: aiming to raise $2 million as it transforms its popular annual beach event into a celebration of its sponsors and community. Hosted by South Bay students and supported by media sponsor NBC4, dozens of stars and more than 100 companies, the event will feature a star-studded lineup of performances and appearances with celebrities like America’s Got Talent winner Kodi Lee, Tony Romo, Sugar Ray Leonard, Matt Kuchar, Brooke Henderson, Howie Long, Brooke Burke, Denise Austin and many more.
Friendship Foundation buddies Marcus and Owen celebrate at last year's Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk. The annual event will be held virtually on Sunday, October 25th, featuring celebrities, sponsors and the community to support children with special needs and education. (Photo: Business Wire)
“The Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk has always been about gathering our community to uplift our kids in the face of great obstacles—and there’s no better example of that than this year,” said Michael Greenberg, founder of the Walk. “Since the world came to a standstill, our students and teachers have faced unimaginable challenges as they have had to learn online. For children and teens, especially those with special needs, staying close with friends is important to their development, and these changes have added further stress to them and their families. Our schools and the Friendship Foundation have risen to meet these challenges, finding creative new ways to teach, care and connect—but more funding is needed to help their efforts.”
Added Greenberg: “I’m so heartened by the continued generosity of our dedicated community, sponsors and ambassadors, as well as the support we’ve received from many new celebrities now that this year’s event has gone virtual. In many ways, this is our Walk’s most important year yet.”
“We’ve been a proud sponsor of the Walk for five years—and in this difficult year, we’re more committed than ever to rally for our children,” said Dennis Sullivan, store director for Gelson's. “It’s crucial that companies like ours step up and help our kids academically, socially and emotionally. The more we give, the stronger they’ll be once the world reopens.”
Donations from the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk support The Friendship Foundation, public schools and scholarship funds for exceptional students. The Friendship Foundation currently offers one-on-one peer visits and social recreational activities online to children with special needs; typical activities include summer camps, sporting event outings and classes such as music, yoga, cooking, art and drama. The event also helps education foundations enhance schools in areas like technology, music, and science; reduce class sizes; update labs, libraries and facilities; and protect teachers’ jobs. To date, the Skechers Foundation’s national scholarship program has donated more than $200,000 to students with financial need and proven excellence in academics, athletics and leadership.
Historically California’s largest event for children with special needs and education, the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk has raised more than $13 million to date for public schools, scholarships and the Friendship Foundation—breaking records every year since its 2009 launch. More than 17,000 registrants participate in the event annually, many of whom will celebrate virtually from home this month and walk through their neighborhoods in tribute.
Additional attendees of this year’s virtual walk include celebrities like Hall of Fame baseball legend Tommy Lasorda, NBC4 investigative reporter Lolita Lopez, actor Dallas Young and singing sensation Malea Emma—with support from Ian Ziering, Jamie Redknapp and numerous YouTube and Disney network stars.
Viewers can register online at skechersfriendshipwalk.com and watch the 12th annual virtual Walk at the site on Sunday, October 25th at 10am PST. Participants can also follow the Walk on Facebook (facebook.com/SKECHERSFriendshipWalk), Instagram (instagram.com/skechersp2pwalk) and Twitter (twitter.com/SkechersP2PWalk).
In addition to media sponsor NBC4, the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk thanks all of its sponsors, including United Legwear & Apparel, The CET Foundation, Moose Toys, Kinecta Federal Credit Union, Petco Foundation, Steel Sports, Vertra, Chevron, McCarthy Construction, Dakine, Aptos Retail, CAA-GBG, Continental Development, Mattel, Marshalls, WSS, O’Melveny, Halo Life, Suntech and more than 100 other companies who have supported our children.
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.
Based in Manhattan Beach, California, Skechers (NYSE: SKX) designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. The Company’s collections are available in the United States and over 170 countries and territories via department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through 3,615 Company- and third-party-owned retail stores and e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia, Israel and Mexico, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, India, Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may 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 the disruption of business and operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic; 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, 2019 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2020. More specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic has had and is currently having a significant impact on Skechers’ business, financial conditions, cash flow and results of operations. Forward-looking statements with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic include, without limitation, Skechers’ plans in response to this pandemic. At this time, there is significant uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic, including without limitation, (i) the duration and extent of the impact of the pandemic, (ii) governmental responses to the pandemic, including how such responses could impact Skechers’ business and operations, as well as the operations of its factories and other business partners, (iii) the effectiveness of Skechers’ actions taken in response to these risks, and (iv) Skechers’ ability to effectively and timely adjust its plans in response to the rapidly changing retail and economic environment. Taking these and other risk factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration, the dynamic nature of these circumstances means that what is stated in this press release could change at any time, and as a result, actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. 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 we cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business 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.
Jennifer Clay
SKECHERS USA
jennc@skechers.com
(310) 937-1326
Source: Skechers Foundation
Released Oct 14, 2020 • 1:30 pm EDT