By Dylan Ride, Cincinnati Reds
On July 24, the Reds Community Fund, P&G, and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, along with more than a dozen additional partners, brought the 2025 Community Makeover to Cincinnati’s Walnut Hills neighborhood.
The annual service day, which included over 500 volunteers, helps transform an urban community, thanks to the leadership of P&G and the Zoo, along with partners such as Cincinnati Children’s, GE Aerospace, Kroger, the United Way of Greater Cincinnati and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation. The Cincinnati Recreation and Cincinnati Public Schools are also key partners in the year-long effort leading up to the service day.
This year’s projects spanned five sites in Walnut Hills, with each receiving various upgrades and beautification. Projects were completed at the Frederick Douglass School, Dr. O’dell Owens Center for Learning, Bush Recreation Center and Ashland Recreation Area. Across from Frederick Douglass Elementary, a community garden was brought back to life as well.
Over 20 partners combined efforts for this year’s Community Makeover, which is the most the event has included in its history.
This year’s effort included more garden work than in past years. One extraordinary outcome took place at the Dr. O’dell Owens Center for Learning, where a seldom-used bus turnaround was transformed into a flora-filled urban learning garden. Over 1,000 perennial and pollinator plants and over 100 trees were planted across Walnut Hills.
At Bush Recreation Center, nonprofit partner Sleep in Heavenly Peace set up shop in the parking lot to craft 50 beds for families in need. The organization’s work holds a special place in Reds pitcher Brent Suter’s heart due to a family connection.
Suter’s father, Mike, has been heavily involved with Sleep in Heavenly Peace since his recent retirement. For the second year in a row, Suter made an appearance along with his family at the Community Makeover, getting involved with some work and greeting volunteers. Having lived in Walnut Hills when he and his wife Erin were first married, this Community Makeover meant a lot to Suter.
The community revitalization had so many different pieces. As beds were being built at Bush Recreational Center, SonLight Power installed a rooftop solar array at the Frederick Douglass School. While a community garden was being fostered on Park Avenue, murals were being painted in multiple locations. Simultaneously, close to 300 community members were picking up free toys and shoes, thanks to Shoes 4 the Shoeless and Toys for Tots. Plus, the 513Relief Bus was back, providing important resources to Walnut Hills residents. This all goes to show some of the wide-ranging ways that the Community Makeover can and does immediately impact some of Cincinnati’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.
Dating back to 2010, the Community Makeover has evolved in remarkable ways. More than a dozen neighborhoods have felt the impact, with new partners added and a more ambitious scope each year.
