Friendship Circle Gets $318,000 Check from Skechers
Last October, the fifth annual Pier-to-Pier Friendship Walk in southern California broke its personal record by raising $1 million for the sake of special needs children. A few weeks ago, Skechers followed up on their pledge with a check for $318,000, delivered to Rabbi Yossi Mintz, director of Chabad of Redondo Beach, CA and the local chapter of the Friendship Circle.
From ER News:
The fifth annual Skechers Pier-to-Pier Friendship Walk last October broke its personal record by raising $1 million in the name of local education and special needs children.
With the support of a star-studded group of ambassadors including comedian Jimmy Kimmell, celebrity fitness guru Brooke Burke-Charvet and National Baseball Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda, more than 10,000 walkers strolled through the 3.4-mile route from the Manhattan Beach pier to the Hermosa Beach pier and back.
On Feb. 27, the Skechers Foundation presented its largest donations to date at its Manhattan Beach headquarters.
Yossi Mintz, the executive director of the Friendship Circle, a nonprofit that joins special needs children with local teen volunteers through peer-to-peer mentoring and social recreational activities, accepted a check of $318,000 for the organization.
“With Skechers’ support, we have nearly doubled our monthly programs and will be able to increase sports and after-school enrichment activities through our 30 clubs for the Friendship Circle members,” Mintz said.
Representatives from six local ed foundations received a total of $492,000 on behalf of their respective school districts, including Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, El Segundo, Torrance and Palos Verdes Peninsula.
“I am taken aback by the amount of support we have received from presenting sponsor Nickelodeon and dozens of national corporations including Steel Partners, Wells Fargo, Chevron and many more,” Skechers president Michael Greenberg said in a statement.
Since its inception in 2009, Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk has become California’s largest charity event supporting education and children with special needs. It has raised nearly $3 million to date in support of the Friendship Circle and education foundations in the South Bay.
