Big Hearts with the Holiday Spirit

Needless to say, the holiday season is rich in traditions that go back generations. Adding to those, Bay Area charter-boat skipper Kirk Miller and his wife Sachi Itagaki have developed an annual custom of their own: Using their Santa Cruz 50 Bay Wolf as a surrogate for Santa’s sleigh by sailing a boatload of Christmas toys to Alameda’s Encinal YC, where they are happily received by local firefighters, for distribution within the community. 

The charter biz has been good to Kirk and Sachi, so last week they opened their hearts and wallets, and bought more than $1,000 worth of new toys and Toys-R-Us gift certificates for Alameda’s toy drive.

Kirk explains that this effort was "part of the ongoing donations that we are making to nonprofits, equaling 10% of our gross revenues." Looking ahead, he says, "We would love to do a really big donation for next year, if we could get other charter-boat operators and other boating companies and suppliers to participate."

Sounds like a fine idea to us, and we applaud Kirk and Sachi’s big-hearted efforts. We can only imagine the joy that those gifts will bring to the underprivileged kids who receive them.