Roses to Chapel Hill Tire Care Center, which donated $3,000 to a new program designed to provide nutritious meals during the summer school break for Chatham County children at risk of hunger.

The donation served as the startup fund for the Summer Nutrition Assistance for Chatham Kids (SNACK) program, a 10-week pilot program run by the CORA Food Pantry. The project will provide pre-packed breakfasts and lunches for 120 children. Additional gifts from The Rolander Family Foundation, Women of Fearrington, Kiwanis of Pittsboro and RTI International provide the rest of the funding for the $10,500 project.

CORA expects to use knowledge gained from the pilot program to expand the SNACK program in future years. The initial program will serve children ages 5 to 17 who qualify for free or reduced school breakfasts and lunches during the school year.

Chapel Hill Tire, which has been in business here for more than 50 years, has a history of giving. Every year the company donates soccer balls and other athletic equipment to Rainbow Soccer, the North Chatham Soccer League and other youth sports organizations, and earlier this year Chapel Hill Tire donated dozens of soccer balls to a nonprofit that distributes them to children in war-torn Afghanistan.

Raspberries to whoever stole a trailer full of empty oyster shells from behind Squid's Restaurant.

UNC microbiologist Chris Elkins collects the spent shells from Squid's for the Coastal Conservation Association. Every three weeks he drives the trailer full down to the coast, where the N.C. Coastal Federation uses them to prevent erosion, protect marshland and preserve fish and wildlife habitat at Jones Island. The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries also uses oyster shells to help promote the formation of oyster reefs.

The CCA's executive director said the theft of the specially outfitted trailer and shells is a significant setback for the habitat restoration project.

We have no idea what the thief wanted with a trailer full of empty oyster shells, which tend to have a less than flowery fragrance. But marine habitats are fragile and precious, and in stealing the trailer and shells the perpetrator has thrown a wrench into a valuable project.

For the sake of the fish and other marine wildlife that depend on the preservation of their habitat, we hope the missing trailer turns up.

Roses to the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department for coming up with a good plan to do some necessary maintenance on the popular Bolin Creek Trail.

Over the years, storms and other mishaps have left a lot of dead or dangerously damaged trees near the trail between Dickerson Court and Bolinwood Drive. To prevent the hazardous possibility of any of them coming down unexpectedly, the town will begin clearing and removing them, starting today.

The project necessitates the trail being closed to the public. The Parks and Rec Department will stagger the work, doing the pruning and removing only on Wednesdays, so the trail can remain open to the public the other six days of the week. That should come as welcome news to the many residents who make a walk, run, skate or cycle along the greenway a part of their regular routine.

Please send suggestions for Roses and Raspberries to editor@nando.com.