ORCHID: To the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence and its longtime leader, Guy Burney, for organizing Youngstown’s Hope for the Holidays event. The program last week was targeted to victims of violent crime and their families. It included a gift giveaway for all who showed up at the Eugenia Atkinson Recreation Center near downtown. Even Mayor Jamael Tito Brown supported the cause, showing up as Santa Claus in a shiny bright red fire truck. We’re certain the project achieved its noble mission of alleviating some of the anguish the families have endured this year.

ORCHID: To Austintown Fitch High School junior Xojier Lewis, a member of his school’s Junior ROTC program, for being one of only 170 cadets worldwide to be selected to participate in an intensive eight-week summer U.S. Air Force program. The program will earn him full certification to fly private aircraft and instruct others how to do the same. Xojier also has an interest in the U.S. Army and is contemplating aiming to become a Green Beret — the Army’s elite special forces unit. Such a career path would be fitting indeed for this elite young scholar.

ORCHID: To the J.M. Smucker Co. of Orrville for donating $1 million to Akron Children’s Hospital’s early literacy efforts through the creation of the Smucker’s Berry Good Reading Program. The program provides the hospital with the funds to grow the scope and quality of its early literacy outreach efforts by encouraging families to read aloud together. As part of the program, children ages 6 months to 5 years old who come in for their annual well-child visits receive a new book to take home. Smucker’s donation merits commendation as it encourages health and fitness in children’s bodies and minds.

ONION: To Youngstown State University’s board of trustees for failing to take formal, public action to appoint Neal McNally, YSU vice president for finance and business operations, as interim university president. In October 2022, the board took a formal public vote to hire Helen Lafferty interim president until a successor to former President Jim Tressel is officially in office. Because she is leaving early to resume her teaching and administrative duties at Villanova University, it would have been fitting for the board to act again with complete transparency to officially appoint McNally in a full and open forum. Even if the trustees’ approval was not necessary, as YSU spokeswoman Becky Rose said, acting with complete transparency on this high-level appointment may have enhanced the board’s image after its appointment last month of Bill Johnson as president in a process many critics, including this newspaper, found severely lacking in transparency and accountability.

ORCHID: To Mahoning County Engineer Pat Ginnetti for recently being chosen by his peers in Ohio’s 87 other counties to lead the County Engineers’ Association of Ohio for 2024. Clearly, Ginnetti, who has served as county engineer for the past 11 years, has gained recognition statewide for his leadership and his successes in his priorities of improving Mahoning County’s infrastructure and working with cities, townships, villages and other agencies for sound transportation planning. We congratulate Ginnetti and wish him success in his new role as president and chief advocate for enhanced infrastructure policy statewide.

editorial@vindy.com