Around $1.2 million raised by the Skechers Pier to Pier Walk in October was donated to various South Bay nonprofits for children last Thursday.
Skechers President Michael Greenberg presented checks to the recipients at the Shade Hotel on March 12 as a line of photographers took shots.
Yossi Mintz of the Friendship Circle, which Greenberg credited with providing the inspiration for the walk and which received $320,000, thanked the Skechers president.
“By having the walk, the whole community sees who we are,” said Mintz, who is the organization’s executive director.
Greenberg recounted how his company came to be involved with the nonprofit.
“People say, ‘Why the Friendship Circle?’” said Greenberg to the audience of about 100.
He said that after many attempts, Mintz finally convinced him to get involved after showing a video featuring the benefactors of the program, children with special needs and their parents. About 1,300 teenagers from schools around the South Bay and surrounding region volunteer to spend time with about 1,000 children.
Greenberg said the organization’s work reminded him of the experience he had as a young man after his family moved. Finding himself without any friends, he said he volunteered to escort students with special needs to their classes at his school.
After Mintz convinced Greenberg to get on board, the recession hit. Greenberg said he and other supporters worried that corporate donors would cut back on their giving, so they came up with the idea for the walk.
The first walk in 2009 had 1,700 participants and raised $220,000. Last year’s walk had 12,000 participants and raised $1.175 million.
Greenberg said that half of last year’s amount came from sponsors such as Nickelodeon who matched the amount raised by walkers.
Mintz said that he finally got Greenberg to sign on because it was “hard to say no” to an organization like Friendship Circle.
“It unifies the community, people of all faiths and backgrounds,” he said.
For example, at a participating Hawthorne high school, volunteers made sure the special needs children weren’t picked on, he said.
“It’s about children not being bullied,” he said. “These are kids with big hearts but no voices.”
Mintz thanked the volunteers and called them “tomorrow’s leaders.”
One long-time volunteer, Amy Rogers, shared the impact of her experience.
A senior at Palos Verdes High School, where she is the co-president of that school’s Friendship Circle, Rogers recalled meeting a girl named Brooklyn for some surfing lessons.
“She had never been in the ocean before, but she said she would stand on the water,” said Rogers.
After falling down many times over multiple days, the girl finally stood on the board. She even went on to master some tricks.
“I learned that no matter how many times the waves or life knock you down, get back up and go after your goals,” Rogers said.
In addition to the Friendship Circle, six South Bay education groups were presented with checks. The El Segundo Education Foundation received $80,000, the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation received $100,000, the Torrance Education Foundation received $108,000, the Redondo Beach Educational Foundation received $104,000, the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation received $96,000, and the Peninsula Education Foundation received $185,000. ER
