The family of Victoria Allen, a Youngstown woman who died Sept. 21, accepts the Distinguished Civilian Leadership Award from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, center, who had the honor renamed for her. Accepting the award at a Tuesday’s ceremony at the Covelli Centre are, from left, Allen’s daughters, Ashanti Allen, Kendra Allen and Ashley Robinson, and Victoria’s husbanThe family of Victoria Allen, a Youngstown woman who died Sept. 21, accepts the Distinguished Civilian Leadership Award from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, center, who had the honor renamed for her. Accepting the award at a Tuesday’s ceremony at the Covelli Centre are, from left, Allen’s daughters, Ashanti Allen, Kendra Allen and Ashley Robinson, and Victoria’s husband, Michael.

YOUNGSTOWN — Victoria Allen, who died Sept. 21, was not only awarded the Ohio Attorney General’s Distinguished Civilian Leadership Award, but the honor was renamed for the woman who volunteered countless hours in the community.

“She showed love and kindness to everyone no matter who they were,” said Ashley Robinson, one of her daughters, who accepted the award from Attorney General Dave Yost at a Tuesday ceremony at the Covelli Centre. “She

really cared about making this a better place and a place to call home.”

Kendra Allen, another daughter, said of her mother: “She was very kind-hearted. How do you describe an angel?”

Yost was to present the award to Allen at a statewide conference in three weeks. The award is given annually to an individual who works closely with law enforcement and made an extraordinary contribution to the community.

Allen, 49, was nominated for the award by nine police officers.

Allen was the president of Crime Stoppers of Greater Youngstown as well as the ICU Block Watch Group on the city’s South Side, was events coordinator for the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 28 of Youngstown and spearheaded numerous events and giveaways in the city.

Those events included neighborhood holiday celebrations, parades and dinners as well as block parties, donation drives and other help for those in need. She also worked to locate missing children, lost or wandering older people, gathered information about crimes and helped find wanted fugitives.

“Vicky will truly be missed in the Youngstown Police Department and all over the Mahoning Valley for her dedication and hard work,” said city police Chief Carl Davis.

Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said the city was “ever so appreciative of her family for lending her to us,” and that it was going to be impossible to find even a large group of people to do the work Allen did.

During the award presentation, Yost said of Allen: “When I was originally reading through all of the things that she had done, I thought I was reading the resume of some large civic organization. The idea that one person could have this impact across so many different things and plan all of these events and impact all of these lives” is remarkable.

Yost said Allen did a great job of helping rebuild trust between law enforcement and the community.

“Ms. Allen’s years of work building bridges and trust in the community is what leadership is all about,” he said.

dskolnick@vindy.com