Free iPods for San Diego wildfire victims

Apple has given free iPod nanos to at least 100 San Diego area high school students who lost their homes in the October wildfires, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports today.

According to the paper, the donation was made in response to an e-mail sent to Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs by Steve Boyack, a father of four and resident of Poway, Calif., one of the towns hardest hit by the fires. Boyack had been involved in relief efforts that included toy drives after wildfires swept the area four years earlier.

"It seemed like the high school kids were being left out," Boyack told the Union-Tribune. "Having four boys, I thought what would be nice for the kids, and I thought iPods are an accessory most kids like and can't live without."

Boyack didn't hear from Jobs, but he did hear from Michael Foulkes, Apple's senior manager for state and local government affairs. Foulkes, Boyack said, planned to take the program countywide but did not want any publicity and did not return the paper's calls.

Thanks to Gizmodo for the link.