ORCHID: To the Salvation Armies in Trumbull and Mahoning counties, as both have kicked off their red kettle drives for Christmas. The kettles will begin popping up outside area stores beginning Monday in Mahoning County. The Trumbull County campaign started Nov. 2.
ORCHID: To members of Girl Scout Service Unit 807 in Howland and Vienna who have for the past eight years collected items for the local Scope Center, which use them for Thanksgiving baskets for area seniors and shut-ins. About 1,700 items will be donated to SCOPE this year. The Scouts did the project as part of a Make A Difference Day activity.
ONION: To the Warren Water Department for not fixing fire hydrants hit by automobiles. One at Draper at Niles Road was hit Nov. 1, 2009, and still is at the same angle when it was hit. Another one is on Market at Logan Brass. The hydrant was damaged and a hose can not be hooked up to it to fight a fire.
ORCHID: To the Ronald McDonald House Charities' third annual Give-a-Coat Campaign, which will distribute the coats to eligible area children in the Valley. The Trumbull County giveaway will be held 1 p.m. Dec. 1 at the Warren Family Mission. For Mahoning County dates, call 330-743-0604 and for Columbiana County, 330-482-5072.
ORCHID: To Charter One's annual initiative, ''Carving Out Hunger,'' which raises awareness of hunger issues and provides holiday meals to those in need in the tri-county area. It is providing a $10,000 donation to the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley. The donation will provide 6,907 meals, with grants to five food banks in Ohio providing more than 137,000 meals statewide this holiday season. Several Charter One volunteers helped sort and repack food at the food bank for distribution.
ORCHID: To the Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership, which held a public meeting Friday at the Sunrise Inn Banquet Room to discuss crime and safety issues in the city of Warren. This follows what is commonly being called a shootout on Sunday, when a man was injured and another one killed.