2024 Bond Hill Community Makeover – August 1
500 volunteers worked at six project sites
The Cincinnati Reds, P&G, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden along with Cincinnati Children’s, GE Aerospace, Kroger and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation partnered for the 2024 Community Makeover service project on Thursday, Aug. 1, in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Bond Hill.
Now in its 15th year, the annual Community Makeover brings together some of Cincinnati’s most historic and iconic institutions with local community partners to make a transformative and sustainable impact on a Greater Cincinnati neighborhood while strengthening youth baseball and softball programs.
The anchor project site for the Bond Hill Makeover was the Xavier Jesuit Academy, a scholarship-funded, faith-based school for boys that will open its doors for the first time in August. The Academy will initially offer grades 3, 4 and 5 for young men from Bond Hill and nearby neighborhoods.
The day-long volunteer project featured 500 volunteers working at following sites:
- Xavier Jesuit Academy – A new Urban Learning Garden has been created by the Cincinnati Zoo along with walking trails and other horticultural improvements that are open to the public. Additional projects at the school included murals, a STEM/STEAM lab, a wellness space, and an upgraded kitchen.
- Bond Hill Academy – Upgraded multi-purpose playground, renovated outdoor classroom, STEM/STEAM lab, and murals at the pre-K-6 Cincinnati Public School facility.
- Bond Hill Park – Completely renovated ballfield with new dugouts and a synthetic infield, plus a new community walking path and updated community garden.
- Bond Hill Community Center – Updated teen room, signage, landscaping and community access.
- Bond Hill Food Pantry – The food pantry at the Church of the Resurrection received upgrades to the offices, workspaces and pantry.
The Cincinnati Recreation Commission’s Bond Hill Community Center hosted a day-long event to provide services for residents of Bond Hill and neighboring communities. Highlights included the 513Relief Bus, 400 pairs of complimentary shoes provided by Shoes 4 the Shoeless, the construction of new beds for families in need courtesy of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a Toys for Tots toy drive and much more.
A series of murals at multiple sites in Bond Hill have been created by local artist Brent Billingsley.
Bond Hill Community Makeover partners
- Lead partners: P&G, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Cincinnati Reds, Reds Community Fund
- Major partners: Cincinnati Children’s, GE Aerospace, Kroger, Cincinnati Recreation Commission
- Community partners: United Way of Greater Cincinnati, Cincinnati Public Schools, Cincinnati ToolBank, OneSource, Duke Energy Foundation
- Host partners: Xavier Jesuit Academy, Church of the Resurrection
About Bond Hill
Founded as a railroad suburb and temperance community in 1870, Bond Hill is located north of the Norwood Lateral and east of I-75 and is home to about 7,000 residents. It is the 19th-largest neighborhood in the City of Cincinnati.
The Reds were recently named a recipient of Major League Baseball’s Allan H. Selig Award for Philanthropic Excellence, which is given annually to an MLB team. The honor recognized the 2022 Lincoln Heights Community Makeover, which featured seven project sites across the historic village. The award recognized the work of all of the project partners that collaborate on the Makeover on an annual basis.
