By Adam Sevier
Staff Writer
Skechers will hold its eighth annual Skechers Pier to Pier Walk on Oct. 23 at the Manhattan Beach Pier, in order to raise money for organizations benefiting children with special needs, including the Friendship Foundation.
The walk is from the Manhattan Beach Pier to the Hermosa Beach Pier and back. Corporations and participants are able to help kids with disabilities by registering for the walk and donating to the cause.
“The pier to pier Skechers friendship walk is a huge fundraiser to support kids with special needs and/or disabilities,” Costa Friendship Circle President Leah Fox said. “Another goal is to invest in organizations that support these kids, which is important because they don’t always get the funds and attention they deserve.”
After the walk, the Skechers Foundation donates the money raised from the event to the Friendship Foundation, which is a non-profit organization in the South Bay that is dedicated to impacting the lives of children with special needs through recreational activities.
“I am always happy to donate to the skechers foundation because I know the money will be put to good use,” participant and sophomore Max Haber said. “The Pier to Pier Walk is such a great way to raise money because it is a fun way to get exercise and show these kids that we care about them.”
According to the Skechers Foundation Manager of Events and Outreach Ally Barron, the annual Skechers Pier to Pier Walk hopes to raise one and a half million dollars this year. Participants pay a thirty dollar registration fee and their donations go towards the Skechers Foundation.
“I love attending the Pier to Pier Walk because it is always fun to see so many familiar faces,” Haber said. “At the end of the day we are able to raise a lot of money for kids with disabilities.”
Individuals and businesses are able to donate to the Skechers Foundation online, and anyone who is not participating in the walk is still able to be a virtual walker. Virtual walkers are people who aren’t able to participate in the walk, but still donate to the cause online.
“One hundred percent of the walker registration fee each education foundation recruits, will be directly donated back to that education foundation,” Barron said. “Last year we raised over $1.4 million dollars.”
View the official Skechers Pier to Pier Walk Website
In the past years, around 13,000 people have participated in the Pier to Pier walk and this year the number is estimated to be roughly the same. The Pier to Pier Walk website shows that 1.3 million dollars have already been raised for this years walk, mainly from large corporations and sponsors, such as Nickelodeon.
“We get the whole community together in a way where even if we haven’t met some of the people there we feel like we’ve known them for a while,” Friendship Circle member and sophomore Sabine Maser said. “It just makes everyone brighten up in a way that’s unexplainable.”
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