The SKECHERS Foundation celebrated its eighth annual SKECHERS Pier to Pier Friendship Walk with a check presentation ceremony on Thursday, March 2 at the Shade Hotel in Redondo Beach, California. The Foundation presented $914,000 to six education foundations and $434,000 to The Friendship Foundation – a non-profit organization that assists children with special needs and their families. The SKECHERS Foundation also announced that it plans to expand its scholarship program four-fold in 2017, awarding $100,000 to high school students in need nationwide.

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Brooke Burke-Charvet, Skechers President Michael Greenberg and Denise Austin at the 2017 SKECHERS Fr ...

Brooke Burke-Charvet, Skechers President Michael Greenberg and Denise Austin at the 2017 SKECHERS Friendship Walk Check Presentation (Photo: Business Wire)

“We’re thrilled to see how much the SKECHERS Pier to Pier Friendship Walk has grown in its eight years – from a passionate local movement of 1,000 that raised $220,000 in 2008, to more than 12,000 people rallying to raise a record $1.6 million for children with special needs and education,” said SKECHERS President Michael Greenberg. “It has been an incredible experience to see the life-changing opportunities that the Walk has created for children – and with the national expansion of our scholarship program, we can make an even greater impact on future generations.”

The SKECHERS Foundation will donate $1,000 to $5,000 scholarships to deserving students, who will be chosen based on financial need, academic performance, athletic abilities and leadership qualities. Administering the program is Scholarship America® – the largest designer and manager of scholarships, tuition assistance and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations and individuals in the nation. The application is currently available to all high school seniors on www.SKECHERSfriendshipwalk.com. Winners will be announced in early June.

Attendees at the 2016 SKECHERS Pier to Pier Friendship Walk included Brooke Burke-Charvet, Sugar Ray Leonard, Denise Austin, and dozens of other celebrities. “The SKECHERS Pier to Pier Friendship Walk has become an annual tradition for me and my family,” said Brooke Burke-Charvet, SKECHERS ambassador and SKECHERS Foundation check presenter. “The event brings together all walks of life and is a powerful testament to what we can do when united in purpose. It’s an honor to give back to so many deserving children.”

Now California’s largest charity event supporting children with special needs and education, the SKECHERS Friendship Walk has united over 54,000 participants since its inception and has raised over $7 million to support The Friendship Foundation – as well as educational foundations that are committed to bettering the school system by saving jobs of teachers, retaining vital academic programs, maintaining smaller class sizes, improving libraries and upgrading school technology. The Walk is an extension of the SKECHERS Foundation, an organization founded to provide families around the world with the necessities and skills to succeed in life.

Numerous corporate sponsors are vital to the success of the SKECHERS Pier to Pier Friendship Walk, including Nickelodeon, NBC4, Wells Fargo, Steel Sports, Vertra, The Claudette and Ethan Rickett Care Foundation, Ross, Zappos.com, Mattel, Body Glove, Kids Foot Locker, United Legwear, JAKKS Pacific, Marshalls, Cushman & Wakefield, Caskey & Caskey, Siltanen & Partners Advertising, Continental Development, Northrop Grumman, Equinox, Chevron, and a myriad of other companies who have shown their support to the organization.

About SKECHERS Foundation

The SKECHERS Foundation was established to provide families around the world with the necessities and skills to succeed in life. In addition to organizing the SKECHERS Pier to Pier Friendship Walk, the SKECHERS Foundation funds tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that provide education and job training, shoes, clothing, fitness and nutrition guidance to communities in need.

About SKECHERS USA, Inc.

SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX) based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women. SKECHERS footwear is available in the United States and over 160 countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores, more than 2,012 SKECHERS Company-owned and third-party-owned retail stores, and the Company’s e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia and the Middle East, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, throughout Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit SKECHERS.com and follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/SKECHERS) and Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the Company’s future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion and opening of new stores and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include international economic, political and market conditions including the uncertainty of sustained recovery in Europe; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. The risks included here are not exhaustive. The Company operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and the companies cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can the companies assess the impact of all such risk factors on their respective businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.