charity – FreeAssociates

Postermania

Back in 2024 we decided to commemorate each Racing to End Alzheimer’s race with its own special poster. We’ve continued through the current season and we thought it would be fun to put them all in one post so you can see the whole collection. (And so can we.)

Everybody in the organization has a favorite, and not all of us agree. (Josh likes 2024 Sonoma, 2025 Barber and 2026 Watkins Glen best so far…) But that’s why we do them in different styles!

Here they are in chronological order. We hope you enjoy these!

Another record — smashed!

Every year for well over a decade, FreeAssociates has designed the promotional materials, signage, website, memorabilia, gifts and presentation graphics for this one-of-a-kind weekend — and then helped run the fund-raising activities, as well.

For 2026, our generous supporters outdid themselves again. In just one night, the 14th annual COPi Cup Invitational Pro-Am presented by Legistics, Inc. raised a record $319,008 for the SCGA Junior Golf Foundation’s scholarship fund.

That boost will allow the Foundation to expand its funding for 2026-2027, pursue further partnership for educational opportunities for Foundation Scholars and SCGA Juniors, and invest in the COPi Cup Endowment. To date, we’ve raised $2.5 million for post-secondary scholarships.

As usual, things began with a Saturday reception, this time welcoming our players with a stunning sunset as founder Phil Frengs set the tone, explained the rules of the tournament, and confirmed the founding principles of the event — Competition, Cameraderie and Charity.

A gorgeous day of challenging golf at Spyglass culminated in our always-fun fundraising dinner on Sunday night.

We spun the now-famous Divot Disk for thousands of dollars of prizes, all of which were donated by our generous pros and their sponsors.

Our annual Bogey Award (a 500-piece puzzle) went to one of our youngest players, Kyle Forsyth, whose short acceptance speech was worthy of an Oscar on its own.

Next day participants played at the incredible Pebble Beach Golf Links with the most famous finishing hole in golf. The 18th is an unforgettable par-5 that sweeps around spectacular Stillwater Cove, testing players off the tee with ocean left, a Cypress tree in the fairway, and out-of-bounds right.

From our perch in the Library, we watched defending champion pro Marcus De La Rosa, PGA, win the individual tournament for the sixth time in a row, at 3 under par.

De La Rosa led his Santa Ana CC crew of amateur players Cal Culmer, Rick Glasser and Steve Levisee to win the team title at an impressive 26-under par.

*Above, left to right: Tournament Director Mark Pfeil, Cal Culmer, Rick Glasser, Steve Levisee. Marcus De La Rosa and tournament founder Phil Frengs.*

“The COPi Cup is always great but setting a new fundraising record this year is truly remarkable,” said SCGA Junior Golf Foundation Executive Director Kevin Gigax. “Our supporters continue to invest generously towards our mission and their partnership will change the lives of future scholars.”

*Phil Frengs writes the Big Check as outgoing SCGA Executive Director Kevin Gigax looks on.*

The Foundation’s 2025 Mimi Frengs Scholar and longtime SCGA Junior participant Dallas Vega was featured in an remarkable video that was shown at the event.

Special thanks to matching partners Phil Frengs and Legistics, Inc.; Bob Baker; Cumberland Holdings; Suzanne Kelley; John & Sarah Kobara; Stephanie Lue; Steve Waszak and Alexis Willingham for their unwavering support.

Thanks to board members, both past and present: Kevin Beggs, Scott Chernoff, Jeff Delarme, Phil Frengs, Jim Jandro, Stephanie Lue and Steve Waszak, all of whom played in the tournament.

Money for a mustache?

Phil Frengs will do almost anything to raise money for a good cause. His annual COPi Cup tournament at Pebble Beach supports the SCGA Junior Scholarship Program, and last week’s event showed his commitment.

When one attendee offered to match donations if Phil would shave his mustache, other players joined in. Together, they added $27,000 to bring the total raised this time to a record $239,000.Read More

Wine Auction raises $333,000

It’s always rewarding to see our work at work, raising money for a good cause. The Santa Monica Education Foundation has announced the results of its 2019 Wine Auction, their mouth-watering spring event, now in its fourth year.

Featuring tasty offerings by some of the areas top chefs, and award-winning wines from all over California, the event sold out weeks ahead of schedule. And it generated a record-breaking 1/3 of a million dollars over the course of about 4 hours.

Yes, our graphics have been part of its success. But most of it comes from the hard work of a dedicated and joyful staff, and proud volunteers who know they’re helping create a great education for thousands of kids.

A quarter of a million dollars in a weekend

That’s how much money we helped raise for scholarships at the seventh annual COPi Cup Invitational Tournament at Pebble Beach. ($223,785 to be perfectly accurate.)

The fundraiser was conceived by our philanthropic client Philip Frengs, the CEO of Legistics, Inc. (That’s Phil in the salmon-colored pants, driving one straight toward the green, just like he does with his charities.)

Named after his firm’s forerunner the COPi Companies, the COPi Cup is a 2-day event celebrating “Camaraderie, Competition and Charity”. It was created to fund scholarships for underserved kids who are often the first members of their families to attend college.

This financial assistance is provided by the SCGA Junior Golf Foundation, but eligibility is not about competitive performance or athletic scholarships. Instead, through their involvement with SCGA Junior, these high schoolers become eligible for aid based on their leadership skills, their academic achievement, their committed participation and their mentorship to younger golfers.

FreeAssociates handles the marketing and information materials, the physical event setup — signs, banners, audio-visuals, etc. — and helps coordinate the actual event. It’s exciting to be so deeply involved in creating the participants’ experience, especially for such a worthy cause.

And spending time in stunning Pebble Beach is pretty nice, too!

Roaring after Alzheimer’s

5.8 million Americans are victims of Alzheimer’s disease. That translates to about 24 million family members. Maybe more. One of those sufferers is Mimi Frengs, our client’s wife, who was diagnosed with the early onset form at 59.

Her husband Phil Frengs decided to do something about it. He thought maybe he could turn his and others’ love of car racing into something that could change lives.

His idea: for the race at Laguna Seca, California, take those giant sponsor logos off the car and replace them with the names of Alzheimer’s sufferers. At $250 to honor your loved one, it gives exposure to the problem while raising funds for both the care and the cure.

Racing to End Alzheimer’s now has 8,500 Facebook followers. We’ve gotten celebrity support from golf champion Rickie Fowler and CBS’s Jim Nantz. And we’ve raised over $140,000 so far. To add to the success, last year our BMW, covered with names, won the season championship, creating even more buzz.

This year we’re racing an Audi RS3, and the names will be added all season long, not just at Laguna Seca. Corporate co-sponsors are on board with matching funds, and we’re looking to add at least another $150,000 to the Racing to End Alzheimer’s Foundation — 100% of which is distributed to our charity partners.

You can learn more here.

Racing to End Alzheimer’s has launched for 2018

We’ve got the green flag for our purple charity event!

Our client, Legistics, is again spearheading a campaign to raise money for Alzheimer’s research and family support. Last year’s efforts netted $43,500 in donations, which was split between UCLA Cognitive Health Clinic and Nantz National Alzheimer Center.

With the theme “Funding the care. Funding the cure.”, we’re looking to raise $100,000 this time.

The idea is to give auto racing fans an opportunity to honor a loved one who’s been affected by the disease.

Legistics CEO Phil Frengs and his co-sponsors are removing their corporate logos from their blazing fast BMW and replacing them with the names of hundreds of Alzheimer’s victims, turning the car into a visual tribute.

Our campaign, which had a soft launch at the last IMSA race in Mid-Ohio, starts in earnest at Watkins Glen, NY. If you’d like to contribute to help combat this scourge that affects over 5 million families in the U.S. head over to r2endalz.org.

Thanks!

How to raise money for education? Wine!

Once again, preparations are underway for the Santa Monica-Malibu Wine Auction. And we’re designing the poster, signage, web ads, social media graphics, program and the various other support goodies — as we have since the Auction launched.

The auction (May 6 at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows) helps pay for the important work of the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation, which funds support for the arts, literacy coaches, instructional assistants, and so many more programs that basic government funding sadly can’t provide.

The event promises to be a blast. Here’s a video of last year’s gathering. You’ll see FreeAssociates’ logo among the sponsors. We’re happy to be one!

Powering toward the finish line!

Racing to End Alzheimer’s is barreling along toward the midnight September 3 checkered flag, when contributions have to be in to secure a place on our championship #17 Porsche Cayman. With the help of golfer Rickie Fowler who co-sponsors the car, many members of the UCLA women’s golf team, University of Washington Women’s Golf, and our thousands of supporters on Facebook, we can take a major step toward ending Alzheimer’s disease.

5.5 million Americans are affected by Alzheimer’s. Worldwide, it hits 47 million. Add families to that number and it impacts some 200 million people. That’s a lot of misery, uncertainty, pain and loss. It needs to stop.

Luckily, we’re closing in on a solution. But progress is directly related to funding, and anything we can do to accelerate the end of Alzheimer’s and dementia is worth doing.

So if this moves you to act, please go to r2endalz.org and donate.

If you’d like to honor a loved one in a brand new way, great! When we remove all the corporate logos and replace them with the names of our donors’ grandparents, parents and friends, for $250 you can add someone you care about — or care for.

If you just want to help, even a small donation is welcome. And all the money we raise goes straight to research and family support. Legistics, our wonderful client, is absorbing all the marketing and execution costs for this campaign.

Watch on Fox Sports FS1 when our car, covered in names, competes in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on September 23.

Please share this. And check out the ways you can make a difference at r2endalz.org. Thanks!

Championship car races to end Alzheimer’s

Last Saturday marked the launch of Racing to End Alzheimer’s, a new foundation designed to help fund research into this debilitating disease, as well as to support programs for families who are dealing with it.

The campaign debuted with redesigned graphics for this season installed on the Legistics-sponsored #17 Porsche Cayman. The new livery highlights Racing to End Alzheimer’s and the brand new website at r2endalz.org. Celebrity golfer and co-sponsor Rickie Fowler will be helping to promote the cause.

But the new summer look only lasts until the fall. At Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on September 23, 2017, the sponsor logos will be stripped from the car and it will be covered in matte black. For $250, donors can honor a loved one affected by Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, with their name and hometown emblazoned on the Porsche as it competes in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.

All elements of the campaign, including the car, were designed by FreeAssociates. Check out the ways you can make a difference at r2endalz.org.

Wine Auction raises $333,000

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