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The Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk has come a long way since its first event in 2008. Just over 2,000 people gathered for the 3.5-mile walk along the coastline of Manhattan Beach, Calif., to raise funds for The Friendship Foundation, an organization that provides peer support to kids with special needs.<\/p>\n
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At its latest event in October<\/a>, at least 21,000 people registered to participate, making it the largest charity walk in California, according to Yossi Mintz, who co-founded the Friendship Foundation with Skechers president Michael Greenberg<\/a>. This year, the walk raised over $3.4 million, to go toward public education programs and fund construction of the Friendship Campus, a 3.5-acre, $55 million space for vocational training that is set to open in early 2026.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFor a lot of the kids that we support, many of them grow up to be adults who are unemployed \u2014 and they are employable if we can give them the opportunity and educate them,\u201d said Mintz. \u201cI had this dream from day one to build this facility. Michael and Skechers have been very influential in making this miracle happen.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For Greenberg, the Friendship Foundation and its fundraiser have been a true passion project. \u201cGrowing up in New England, in the fourth grade I was asked to help the children with special needs get from class to class,\u201d he recalled. \u201cSo when it was brought to my attention that we wanted to create friendships for children who really don\u2019t have friends, I was all in.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And, he added, the success of the event has proven that others care about the issue as well. \u201cTo see [our partners in] other countries start their own charity events \u2014 Skechers in China has a walk, Skechers in Malaysia \u2014 they\u2019ve made even greater impacts than ever imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Each year, the crowd at the Manhattan Beach pier includes several Skechers celebrity partners, such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Amanda Kloots and Mr. T. But its most consistent supporter is model and TV host Brooke Burke, who has attended for more than a decade. \u201cSeeing thousands come together, lifting each other up and helping out those in need fills me with an overwhelming sense of pride and joy,\u201d Burke said. \u201cEvery child deserves a friend and opportunities to flourish in school.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And the Friendship Walk has made an important impact on the community, according to Nancy Hersman, mayor of Manhattan Beach. \u201cThanks to the generosity of the Skechers Foundation, in partnership with the Friendship Foundation, all our public schools have Friendship Circle clubs where typical students engage socially with special needs students,\u201d she said. \u201cThis experience transforms all the children involved.\u201d Hersman also noted that Skechers supports the community\u2019s fireworks and contributes to its schools. \u201cI\u2019m really proud that Skechers has its headquarters here in Manhattan Beach.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n But those are still only a fraction of Skechers\u2019 work to improve the lives of others. In early November, for instance, Greenberg traveled to Maui, Hawaii, to bestow $75,000 in donations<\/a> to Help Maui Rise and Lahaina Intermediate School, while also reopening the store it lost in the 2023 wildfires in Lahaina\u2019s Maui Outlets.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Brooke](\"https:\/\/footwearnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Brooke-Burke-Sugar-Ray-Leonard-and-walkers-at-Skechers-Pier-to-Pier-Friendship-Walk.jpg?w=1024\")
![\"Skechers](\"https:\/\/footwearnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Michael-Greenberg-Mayor-Bissen-Lahaina-Intermediate-School.jpg?w=1024\")