The 16th annual Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk took place on Oct. 20 in Manhattan Beach, CA, raising more than $3.4 million to support children with special needs, improve public schools and contribute to national scholarships. This “sweet 16th” milestone event, presented by Nickelodeon, garnered nearly 22,000 registered participants.
A myriad of celebrities were in attendance at the charity walk, including Sugar Ray Leonard, Brooke Burke and cast members from the Netflix dating series “Love on the Spectrum.” In addition to focusing on youth, the event included an adopt-a-pet center sponsored by Petco Love and The Love Joy Foundation, which was located at the Skechers Apparel location on Manhattan Beach Blvd.
Donations garnered from the walk go toward the Friendship Foundation and education foundations for public schools; and the forthcoming $55 million, 3.25-acre Friendship Campus for students with special needs. Additionally, the walk helps improve schools, decrease class sizes, update labs, libraries and facilities as well as protect the jobs of teachers.
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On top of that, the Skechers Foundation’s national scholarship program allocates a share of Friendship Walk proceeds to students with financial needs who excel in academics, athletics and leadership; more than $1.1 million in scholarships have been donated thus far.
In an interview with FN, Skechers president Michael Greenberg explained what makes this year’s walk different than last year, elaborating on the Friendship Campus and the vision behind it: “We’re building a Friendship campus at 64,000 square feet in Redondo Beach; it’s a state of the art school. So, one of the reasons behind this dream was to help children after high school, children with special needs don’t really have any resources following high school, and this school is going to offer life skills and so many basic needs on how to live on your own, teach you how to live on your own, teach you the fundamentals, help you shop, help you bank. And it’s just going to be a place filled with love.”
With the Friendship Walk first established in 2009, Greenberg reflected on the participants who benefitted from the event as children and have since grown up. He named one person in particular: “Jacob is here, every year. He’s never missed a year. He was a student when we started the walk. He’s in his 30s today, and he actually works for the Friendship Foundation. And you know, God bless, he’s looking forward to this school and what it’s going to offer him as well. He’s just a champ. And you know, when I’ve been to his birthday parties, I we hang out, and I see the importance of what we’re doing in the community, what the community’s doing for the children. So, it’s all good stuff.”
