Chronic Cantina to hold fundraiser

There’s more than one way to help the environment, and this Sunday, beers, bikinis and music will come together to do just that.

In what could make for a marathon day of fun, the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation is joining up with popular clothing and sports companies and the Chronic Cantina to host a fundraiser to help the nonprofit keep our oceans clean.

“The owners, we love doing these events,” said Keith Scheinberg, co-owner of the Chronic Cantina in Costa Mesa’s Triangle Square. “It’s a good way to give back and let everyone know we’re more than just sports and good food.”

From noon until the restaurant closes at about 11 p.m. Sunday, likely hundreds will flow in and out of the restaurant for its annual Courtyard Concert event that will feature live music and a fashion show of sorts.

The weekend fundraiser is donating the ticket proceeds to the Surfrider Foundation, whose chapters worldwide aim to preserve the ocean and its beaches, organizers say. The local chapter’s mission statement, chapter member Nick Roussos said, “is to protect the world’s oceans, waves and beaches through conservation, activism, research and education.”

“This recession made it hard to get donations,” said Raquel Figlo, an organizer for Surfrider. But through her connections and recognizing it was for a good cause, Figlo said, they’ve gotten sponsors from both big and independent clothing and sports companies.

“It’s basically the action sports industry coming together to support Surfrider,” she said.

The $15 charge at the door gets guests a beer and tickets for the raffle. Thousands of dollars in clothes will be raffled off, along with custom designed surfboards and a $1,200 bicycle with an electric motor.

There will also be a beer pong tournament, a DJ contest, live music and a bikini contest.

Scheinberg said his restaurant hosts charity events annually and raised between $40,000 and $50,000 for charities last year. The Surfrider Foundation received $8,000 at this same event in 2008, Figlo said.

There will be a bikini contest instead of the traditional fashion show.

“We had a lot of bikini companies sponsoring this year, so we made it a bikini contest with a $1,000 prize,” Scheinberg said.