Over 10,000 people crowded the Manhattan Beach Pier and Strand area Sunday morning to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the area’s most powerful fund-raiser, the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk.
At the event, which raises funds for youth with special needs, Michael Greenberg, the founder of the event and president of Skechers announced that some $24 million had been raised over the last 15 years, with $3 million in the last year. The Skechers Foundation raised the amount through the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk. Friendship Foundation is a partner and a beneficiary of some of the funds.
Rabbi Yossi Mintz of the Jewish Community Center, a co-founder of the Friendship Foundation, said the new Friendship Campus in Redondo Beach, which broke ground in 2022, would be open by year-end 2025.
“It’s blossomed into something we never even imagined,” said Greenberg. “The first year we had 1,200 people,” and this year over 10K.
“It’s my favorite Sunday of the year,” he added. “I wake up motivated and inspired. It’s very beautiful.”
