Skechers gifts the South Bay Schools and Friendship Foundation $3 million

Photo byBNN

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA – The South Bay Schools and Friendship Foundation received a significant contribution from Skechers, which will go towards assisting students with special needs. The shoe corporation gifted the foundation with just over $3 million after holding its annual Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk last October.

The purpose of the Pier to Pier Friendship Walk is to spread awareness and raise funds for public school systems in the South Bay. Last year’s goal was to raise $2.5 million. Donations surpassed the initial aim by more than $1 million for a grand total of $3,138,035.14.

“It’s the community and the surrounding communities that really are the ones that care about our kids so deeply,” Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers USA, says of the event. “Seventy-seven schools are a part of receiving the proceeds from these walks in the 15 years [where] $24 million dollars has been raised. So an astonishing amount of money.”

The Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk was founded in 2009 to help fund education in the South Bay. Every year, participants gather to walk from the Manhattan Beach Pier to the Hermosa Beach Pier with the support of family, friends, and local corporations on the sidelines.

“It’s about culture. It’s about music. It’s about creatives,” Greenberg says of the event, which typically includes celebrity collaborators. “We want people to really want to do it,” he adds.

“You can give anybody a paycheck, but we want their heart and soul in it — and a partnership with Snoop [Dogg] and with Martha [Stewart] have been…they’re so passionate, it’s been wonderful.”

Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, and Palos Verdes are three cities to directly benefit from funds raised last October. Those looking to participate in this year’s Pier to Pier Walk have the option of registering on behalf of a school or sponsor in addition to signing up as an individual.