From left, KZST DJ Mike Adams, Brett Martinez, KZST owner Lawrence Amaturo, Bill Friedman and Linda Jacobs.
Santa got an assist this week in his yearly yuletide efforts to ensure a happy Christmas to all the good girls and boys of Sonoma County.
The annual Secret Santa program—in which individuals, families, schools, nonprofits and other agencies submit their “wishes” which are put on display for the public to “adopt”—strives to make everyone’s holiday wish come true. The program is put on in partnership with the Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership, Friedman’s Home Improvement and KZST Radio.
Each year, thousands of Secret Santa wishes are submitted. But this year, about 2,500 of the wishes were at risk of not being adopted as the deadline for the program drew near. This week, the program’s Secret Santa Champion Sponsor Redwood Credit Union stepped up just in the nick of time to fill Santa’s sack.
On Thursday, Redwood Credit Union CEO Brett Martinez, along with Linda Jacobs, CEO of the Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership and Bill Freidman of Friedman’s Home Improvement, visited KZST’s morning show with a last-minute call to action for the community to help fill these gifts. Martinez then announced that RCU would cover the cost to fill the Secret Santa shortfall, which the credit union has done each year since 2017, following the North Bay fires.
In announcing the move, Martinez said RCU wants to support the community “in good times and bad.”
“The holidays are about more than gifts; they’re about creating joy and memories, and the Secret Santa program supports that for those who need it most,” said Martinez. “We want to ensure that every individual on the Secret Santa list receives something special this year.”
