The Midnight Mission’s 100-Year Commitment to Giving Back to Skid Row Residents with Nowruz New Year Celebration

Iranian Springtime Festivities Commence with Street Fair, Live Entertainment, Meal Service & Traditional Gift-Giving at The Midnight in Downtown Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, February 18, 2014– The Midnight Mission proudly announces its third annual Nowruz at The Midnight—a special street celebration to toast life and revive the spirit during this festive time of renewal— taking place on Friday, March 14^th, from 3pm to 6pm at The Midnight on Skid Row in Downtown Los Angeles. Last year’s event saw over 2,500 meals served, more than 140 volunteers and 3,000 articles of clothing distributed. This year, the title sponsor
will be California-based brand SKECHERS USA, Inc., which is renowned for their diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children.

Steeped in history, Nowruz is an annual celebration that marks the beginning of the Iranian New Year for people of all faiths. It is also a time of deep spirituality when light symbolically conquers darkness, and people open their hearts to help those less fortunate than themselves step into the light. In the same spirit, through its life-saving and dynamic programs and initiatives, The Midnight Mission—commemorating its 100-year anniversary—has been a source of revival and renewal for the homeless population of Los Angeles for the past century.

In honor of this 3,000 year-old holiday, the Iranian-American community is coming together to

give back to more than 3,000 Skid Row residents with a street celebration at The Midnight Mission. Hundreds of volunteers, celebrities and local leaders will attend.

Embracing the true spirit of the holiday, The Midnight Mission welcomes thousands of the City’s neediest to a healthy and hearty holiday meal. The colorful outdoor festival will feature a traditional Nowruz meal and delicacies, as well as live entertainment and special performances by dance ensembles. In keeping with the Nowruz tradition of gift giving to the family at New Year, a selection of clothing and toys will be donated to each person in attendance.

Underscoring The Midnight Mission’s enduring commitment to the homeless community, The Midnight has never missed a day of providing meals and services to the community since 1914. As Southern California’s premier homeless center, The Midnight provides much more than meal service. Through its life-changing and life-saving programs from job training to tutoring to sports and 12-step recovery programs, The Midnight is a resource of revival and renewal for the homeless population of Los Angeles.

“I’m proud to be part of this remarkable institution, which has successfully evolved in harmony with the Los Angeles region over the last hundred years,” says Larry Adamson, The Midnight Mission’s President and CEO. “By the same token, we are honored to be aligned with the Iranian-American community, who continue their philanthropic pledge to the City and the issue of homelessness.”

Underscoring their sponsorship of the daylong festival, the Nowruz Committee plans to underwrite 13 days of The Midnight Mission’s meal service to correspond with the 13-day holiday.

“Iranian-Americans are always thinking about how to give back, especially in celebration of Nowruz, which has a strong significance for us,” says Abbas Satrap, Nowruz Committee Chair. “As a community, we truly understand the meaning of being displaced so we are honored to be in a position to help and, in doing so, restoring hope to our less fortunate neighbors.”

The Midnight Mission has set up a special phone number (213)-624-4106 for Nowruz donors.  The phone line will be answered by The Midnight’s staff during regular hours and will have a special recording for afterhours.

About The Midnight Mission Commemorating its 100-year anniversary, The Midnight Mission offers a path to self-sufficiency to men, women, and children, who have lost everything. Our emergency services, 12-step recovery program, job training, education and work programs offer a compassionate bridge to productive lives.  We remove obstacles to self-sufficiency and provide the accountability and structure that people who are experiencing homelessness need to rejoin their communities. Our conviction and commitment to their success define us. For more information, please visit www.midnightmission.org

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 via department and specialty stores, Company-owned SKECHERS retail stores and its e-commerce website, and in over 100 countries and territories through the Company’s international network of subsidiaries in Canada, Brazil, Chile, Japan, and across Europe, as well as through joint ventures in Asia and distributors around the world. For more information, please visit www.skechers.com, and follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SKECHERS) and Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).