Skechers, The Comfort Technology Company™, is supporting Haiti earthquake relief efforts with a $1 million donation to be given to three charitable organizations: CORE, Hope For Haiti and World Central Kitchen. The Company is supporting these organizations to help the Haitian people who need immediate assistance recovering from this natural disaster.
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A helping hand after earthquake in Haiti on August 14, 2021. Photo credit: CORE
Since the tragic event on the morning of Saturday, August 14, more than 2,100 people have died with countless others critically injured. According to UNICEF, more than 84,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and over a half million children have been left without necessary food, shelter or clean water.
“As soon as we heard about the devastation on Saturday, it was clear that Skechers needed to step up and help the people of Haiti,” said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. “We’re donating a combined $1 million to three organizations that are making an immediate difference today—and two of which have been providing critical aid in Haiti for many years. This is just a kickoff. We are expecting to raise significant additional funds through the Million Dollar Challenge for Haiti—one that will encourage our ambassadors, partners and employees to donate with us as the need is tremendous. We are so proud of our associates and affiliates around the globe. We know that our teams and partners will come through for the people of Haiti whose lives have been upturned. Skechers is a culture of caring and making a difference is paramount to who we are.”
CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort)—co-founded by actor and activist Sean Penn in response to the 2010 Haitian earthquake disaster, the organization has continued its work in Haiti and responds globally when crisis strikes where vulnerable communities suffer most.
“We are extremely grateful for this support as funding on the ground is urgently needed,” said Ann Lee, CEO and co-founder of CORE. “The devastation throughout the region is tremendous and there are countless lives that hang in the balance. These resources support our teams that have been on the ground since day one, our mobile medical units, shelter kits, and heavy equipment, clearing access into affected communities for life-saving operations to help those most impacted by the crisis. Our priority is to assist the Haitian government and local organizations by supporting the immediate needs of the Haitian people while developing a long-term recovery plan.”
Hope For Haiti—its ongoing mission is to provide resources to help communities thrive while improving the quality of life for Haitian people, particularly children. The organization works with communities in rural areas in support of education, healthcare, infrastructure, access to clean water, and economic activity.
“Our team is incredibly grateful for the generosity of the Skechers Foundation to launch the Skechers Economy Fund. This contribution will support direct economic relief as a part of our emergency response and recovery plan, specifically providing 1,000 micro grants, 20 loans, financial literacy classes, and digital currency education to school teachers and micro-, small-, and medium-sized businesses with the support of blockchain-enabled cash transfers,” says Skyler Badenoch, Hope for Haiti's CEO.
World Central Kitchen—founded by chef José Andrés to use the power of food to nourish communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and beyond. The organization also helps create food resilience and skill training to build opportunities within the community while feeding those who are hungry.
Skechers has just begun the Million Dollar Challenge for Haiti with outreach through the Skechers Foundation and the creation of the Skechers Haiti Relief Fund. The first donations and commitments have come in from some company employees, ambassadors (including Howie Long, Meb Keflezighi, Brooke Burke and Jon Gruden) and licensees (including United Legwear and Apparel Company, Fossil Group, ONSKINERY GmbH and Floriey Industries). These and future donations will be in addition to the $1 million from Skechers and will also go to CORE, Hope for Haiti and World Central Kitchen.
About SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Skechers (NYSE:SKX), The Comfort Technology Company based in Southern California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. The Company’s collections are available in the United States and over 170 countries and territories via department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through 4,057 Company- and third-party-owned retail stores and e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia, Israel and Mexico, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, India, Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
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 CORE
CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) is a crisis relief nonprofit organization co-founded by Sean Penn and Ann Lee that is dedicated to saving lives and strengthening communities affected by or vulnerable to crisis. Within hours of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Penn mobilized a powerful network to take immediate action. More than 11 years later, CORE continues to lead sustainable programs focused on four pillars: emergency relief, disaster preparedness, environmental resilience, and community building. The organization has expanded beyond Haiti to support communities in the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, the United States, India and Latin America. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, CORE has been operating free testing sites across the U.S. alongside local partners, providing essential resources and contact tracing services as well as part of its integrated approach to combat the pandemic. In 2021, CORE is working with its partners in the U.S. and internationally to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines, and has published a manual to encourage equity-focused community-based vaccination operations. More information: www.coreresponse.org/covid-19 and follow CORE on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
About Hope for Haiti
Hope for Haiti’s mission is to improve the quality of life for the Haitian people, particularly children. For the past 32 years, Hope for Haiti has built a reputation as one of the most trusted non-profit organizations in southern Haiti, through a firm dedication to the highest standards of transparency, accountability, and good governance. The organization’s team includes 62 full-time Haitian staff members who are from and live in Hope for Haiti’s partner communities and serve as key leaders in the implementation of Hope for Haiti’s strategic plan. Using lessons learned in crisis response from the 2010 Earthquake, Haiti’s Cholera Epidemic, Hurricane Matthew, and the spread of COVID-19, Hope for Haiti has developed a comprehensive short- and long-term response & recovery plan for the 2021 Earthquake and is uniquely qualified to respond to the needs of the Haitian people in the days and years ahead. Hope for Haiti is a 4-star rated non-profit by Charity Navigator and is a participant at the Platinum Level through the GuideStar Exchange, two leading independent evaluators recognizing the organization’s transparency and careful stewardship of donor resources. To learn more and read the full response plan, visit: www.hopeforhaiti.com and follow the organization on Instagram @hopeforhaiti for the most recent updates.
About World Central Kitchen
Founded in 2010 by Chef José Andrés, World Central Kitchen (WCK) uses the power of food to nourish communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and beyond. WCK has created a new model for disaster response through its work helping devastated communities recover and establish resilient food systems. WCK has served more than 50 million fresh meals to people impacted by natural disasters and other crises around the world in countries including The Bahamas, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mozambique, Venezuela, and the United States. WCK’s Resilience Programs in the Caribbean and Central America have trained hundreds of chefs and school cooks, advanced clean cooking practices, and awarded grants to farms, fisheries and small food businesses while also providing training and networking opportunities. Learn more at wck.org.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, Skechers’ 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, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, 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 the disruption of business and operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic; international economic, political and market conditions including the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States; 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 Skechers’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2021. More specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic has had and is currently having a significant impact on Skechers’ business, financial conditions, cash flow and results of operations. Forward-looking statements with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic include, without limitation, Skechers’ plans in response to this pandemic. At this time, there is significant uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic, including without limitation, (i) the duration and extent of the impact of the pandemic, (ii) governmental responses to the pandemic, including how such responses could impact Skechers’ business and operations, as well as the operations of its factories and other business partners, (iii) the effectiveness of Skechers’ actions taken in response to these risks, and (iv) Skechers’ ability to effectively and timely adjust its plans in response to the rapidly changing retail and economic environment. Taking these and other risk factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration, the dynamic nature of these circumstances means that what is stated in this press release could change at any time, and as a result, actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and we cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business 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.
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Contacts
Jennifer Clay
Skechers USA
jennc@skechers.com
