Adam Frand Foundation

In recent years, the foundation has expanded to funding left-leaning political organizations such as the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), a Planned Parenthood affiliate, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and other left-leaning organizations. ²

Background

Adam Frand was described as “an avid bodyboarder.” ³ In 1998 at the age of 17, Frand died of an undiagnosed congenital heart disorder. His family established the Adam Frand Foundation in 2001to raise awareness and money for children and teens with heart problems. ^{1 4}

The Adam Frand Foundation began by buying automated external defibrillators for local schools, providing training mannequins for Los Angeles County lifeguards and junior lifeguards, and funding research focused on heart disease in young adults. ¹

The foundation established several surf contests to raise money and awareness for Sudden Cardiac Arrest Syndrome (SCAS) in young people, in memory of the teen’s interest in surfing. ³ The foundation also worked with companies such as Body Glove International and ET Surfboards. The events brought professional surfers together with amateur or hobby surfers for the goal of creating awareness of SCAS and providing funding for people to obtain automated external defibrillators for middle and high school students. ⁵

Leadership

The Frand family continues to lead the Adam Frand Foundation. Ricki Frand is the president of the Adam Frand Foundation, Nicole Frand is the secretary, and Jordan Frand is the chief financial officer. ⁶

Grants

The organization has distributed $13,000 in grants to various organizations, with a median grant of  $1,400 and a maximum grant of $2,500. ²

The Adam Frand Foundation helped to establish the Progressive Surf Group, identified as “a group that was formed in conjunction with the Adam Frand Foundation to help fight against Sudden Cardiac Arrest Syndrome.” ⁵

In 2019, Adam Frand Foundation grantees included the Climate Emergency Fund, an environmentalist group; the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, a pro-gun control organization; and Parent Heart Watch. ⁷

In 2018, the Adam Frand Foundation made grants to several left-of-center organizations. Grant recipients included Kids in Need of Defense, a left-of-center refugee and immigration nonprofit; the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), a group backing legal status for illegal immigrants; the Southern Poverty Law Center, a controversial organization that purports to monitor “hate groups”; the Natural Resources Defense Council (NDRC), a controversial environmentalist group; Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, a local affiliate to the nation’s largest abortion provider; and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, an LGBT-interest group. ²

The Frand Foundation also gave $2,500 to the JFS Sova Community Food Resource Program, $2,000 to the Trevor Project, and $1,500 to School on Wheels. ²

Scare N Tear

The most significant event sponsored by the Adam Frand Foundation is an annual Halloween-season “Scare N Tear” surf contest, where surfers wear costumes while surfing to raise funds for the foundation. ¹

The “Scare and Tear” fundraising contest was started in 2005 by Charlie Ninegar, a store manager at Spyder Surf, who had been among Adam Frand’s high school friends. ⁸ The contest began as a memorial with a group of Frand’s friends, but over a decade, it grew to be a popular contest in Southern California. ⁹