CINCINNATI -- The Reds Community Fund works year-round to reach boys and girls of all backgrounds who not only want to want to play baseball, but also earn achievements away from the field. The fund's longtime executive director, Charley Frank, was particularly thankful for one day in 2017: June 7.
It was on that day when 33 kids from the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program and the P&G MLB Urban Youth Academy took part in the team's first college signing day. Of those 33 at the event inside Great American Ball Park, 14 were going on to play college baseball or softball. And one graduate, R.J. Barnes from Sycamore High School, was selected in the 34th round of the Draft by Cincinnati.
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"We celebrated 33 kids that had been through the program and graduated high school. Many of them are going on to college for the first time in their families' history," Frank said.
In an elite educational program modeled partly after an initiative by the White Sox, the students received attention beyond coaching on the field and funding for travel and equipment. They received ACT and SAT testing preparation, etiquette skills training and training to create resumes and sharpen interview skills. In 2017, the program had two teams. The plan is to grow the enhanced training program to 11 teams for baseball and softball players between 14-18 years old.
Among those present at the signing ceremony were Reds chief operating officer Phil Castellini and reliever Michael Lorenzen. The day gave Frank and the Reds Community Fund another indication of how the Urban Youth Academy has evolved in just three years.
"While we've always been in this universe of tens of thousands of kids being touched, now we've seen this filter," Frank said. "Every spring, our goal is that there will be 30-50 kids that are Major League citizens, ready for life, that have really been touched by the programs, the resources and staff of the academy, the community fund and the Reds."
Later that night as the Reds played the Cardinals, FOX Sports Ohio donated all of its pregame, in-game and postgame commercial time for the Reds Community Fund to hold its annual telethon. Stories of the students from signing day were told throughout the evening, along with the other baseball and philanthropic work that is done by the RCF.

More than $120,000 in charitable donations was made during the telethon. Four years ago, the telethon generated $15,000.
"The telethon has become one of our more remarkable fundraisers," Frank said. "That day was monumental for us. It was such an effective day in both raising awareness and fundraising. Tying those two programs together and being able to tell the stories of many of those young men and women in real time was phenomenal."
Two more college-bound high school seniors and alumni from the RBI program also won scholarships from MLB Charities, as part of the "RBI for RBI" Scholarship Fund. Since 2014, seven of the 48 MLB scholarships awarded have gone to graduates of the Cincinnati-area RBI program or Urban Youth Academy.
Once again, the Reds Community Fund also led a "community makeover," with hundreds of volunteers descending in the Evanston neighborhood to work at Hoffman Fields. With the help of the Cincinnati Zoo, Kroger and Procter & Gamble, two smaller fields behind the school were converted into one bigger and better field. Nearby at the Evanston Recreation Center, an outdoor playscape was installed and a learning center was dedicated. There was even a new zip line added. More than $500,000 worth of improvements were made.

"It's really the first of its kind in the city," Frank said. "That's one of the biggest things we do, year-in and year-out."
In the past 12 years, the Reds Community Fund has renovated over 200 sites totaling over 400 baseball and softball fields.
"A big part of field renovation is to make sure we're in touch with each neighborhood," Frank said. "We're the only team, really, that keeps maintenance involved in the equation. It's a very challenging task but a big priority to us."