By AARIN HARTWELL
Special to the PRESS
The second annual Salty Santa will be held Saturday, Dec. 17 at Barry’s Beach Bar on South Padre Island. The event is the third event of the Holiday Surf Series produced by and benefiting the Gulf Guardians, a local environmental education nonprofit, 501c3. The Salty Santa is free to all attendees and will encourage fun for families, support community engagement, and provide giveaways and discussion regarding Plastic Free Living.
“Our goal is to engage our community with events that can help educate and inspire residents and visitors about environmental topics that affect our Gulf and native land,” says Aarin Hartwell, Gulf Guardians Director. “Our theme and initiative for 2021 and 2022 is called Plastic Free Padre.”
Plastic Free Padre began with its focus on restaurants by offering microgrants to help offset the initial costs of transitioning away from single-use plastic items. While this remains part of the initiative’s mission, the Gulf Guardians have expanded into community outreach education as part of the efforts to address its local plastic-relevant challenges.
“The success of these events also allows us to raise much-needed funds to support the initiatives that will help keep our beaches clean and implement educational programs that will inform the general public and our Island’s youth through workshops and afterschool programs. These efforts will enhance a collective action toward addressing our local and global environmental challenges as well as provide an outstanding opportunity for citizens, visitors and future generations to connect with the natural world in a variety of settings and experiences,” said Hartwell.
The idea for the Salty Santa was inspired by an event Hartwell attended while living in Cocoa Beach, Florida, entitled Surfing Santa.
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