Recognizing Castañeda’s impacts in community

In the April 27 edition, PK Hattis wrote a beautiful article announcing Gina Castañeda as the 2025 Jessica A. York Hero Award recipient. Thank you for recognizing Gina’s impactful work with at-risk youth in Santa Cruz County with such a meaningful award. Gina’s innate leadership is exemplified by her ability to build powerful community connections. Whether as a probation officer creating a safe space for kids to play soccer, as the successful Aptos High girls coach, or through her effectiveness in the Pajaro Valley Sports Foundation, she continues to strengthen those connections.

I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Gina through the Rise Together coalition and through her role on the Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Her intimate knowledge of the community makes her a strong advocate and trusted member of our Engage & Impact and Scholarship committees. We’re thankful for her continued strength, resilience and leadership.

— Susan True, CEO of Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Aptos

‘Blown away’ by SV High theater production

My husband and I saw the final production of “Hadestown” by the Scotts Valley High School theater students and were blown away. The all-singing, all-dancing musical is complex and demanding, and all the actors were excellent in all respects, exuding tremendous vitality in a well-coordinated and creatively choreographed play.

We have missed the beloved Jewel Theatre, so this was a delightful surprise. We were also moved by the camaraderie, affection and gratitude the students expressed afterward. We felt like we were witnessing a warm, talented and embrasive community.

— Sally Jorgensen, Santa Cruz

Black history is American history; don’t whitewash it

On March 27, the executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” was signed, targeting the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) for promoting an alleged “improper ideology.” This order threatens not only the ability of institutions to engage with the honest and truthful telling of Black history, but also our shared ability as a nation to understand Black history as a fundamental component of American history.

As a Black American, I am extremely concerned about how this order will affect the public by denying African American history. Black historical heroes like Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Tuskegee Airmen, Maya Angelou, and Jackie Robinson are already being erased by government websites, which is not only immoral, but also whitewashes American history and sanitizes the atrocities that this country has committed.

— Zoe Edington, Monterey

Helpless feeling as Gaza horrors continue

Like so many, I turn away from news about Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank, finding it is too horrific, too painful. The May 4 AP report on the acutely malnourished and dying children in Gaza broke my heart. I wake to thoughts of the Gazans, who’ve survived relentless (U.S. financed) bombing and displacement, now being starved to death by Netanyahu’s government; it has killed over 52,000 unarmed civilians.

Not even the United Nations, due to U.S. vetoes under Biden and now Trump’s encouragement, has been able to stop this ongoing tragedy. Having lost almost all my ancestors to the Holocaust, I feel as helpless as my parents must have. To me, one-sided bombing and starvation serve the same purpose as gas chambers: ethnic cleansing. In my view, there is no justification for this, ever. Nor is there moral justification for rabbis (local and elsewhere) to hold a “big tent” for inclusion of those who justify the genocidal actions of Israel at this shameful moment in history.

— Marcia Heath, Santa Cruz

Obvious solution to horrors in Gaza: Free the hostages

Whenever I see these articles and letters about the horrors in Gaza, I’m astounded that while complaining about something that actually is horrible, They’re not willing to state what the obvious solution is. Three words: FREE THE HOSTAGES.

— Sally Beck, Santa Cruz