👋 GOOD MORNING, CINCY
A lot of good work starts by making the next step easier for someone else.
A path into a good job. A tree for a yard. Tools a nonprofit does not have to buy. A neighborhood place where people can linger instead of just pass through.
And with BLINK this weekend, October is arriving quickly.
Let’s get into it.
PARTNER · YIELD COFFEE ROASTERS
Better coffee can do more than taste good.
Cincinnati-based YIELD sources specialty coffee through long-term producer relationships and gives at least 10% of profits back to meaningful projects.
🏡 WORTH KNOWING
Nearly $1 million is going toward Southwest Ohio’s aviation workforce
One of Cincinnati’s biggest industries has a familiar problem: plenty of work, not always enough people with the training to do it.
This week, GE Aerospace and the GE Aerospace Foundation announced nearly $1 million in new workforce investment across Southwest Ohio.
Roughly $500,000 will go through the foundation’s Lifting Futures initiative to three local partners beginning in 2027. The money is intended to expand training capacity, improve career awareness and recruitment, and better connect workforce programs across the Cincinnati-Dayton aerospace corridor.
Another $400,000-plus will continue support for the United Way of Greater Cincinnati’s Future of Manufacturing Fund.
Cincinnati-Dayton is one of five initial communities in Lifting Futures, a $30 million initiative that aims to train 10,000 people for aerospace and advanced-manufacturing jobs by 2030. GE Aerospace also donated $250,000 to Cincinnati State last year to expand its aviation-maintenance training capacity.
That matters beyond GE.
A healthy local economy needs more than employers creating jobs. It needs realistic paths for people to acquire the skills those jobs require, without every path demanding a traditional four-year degree.
The good here: Cincinnati already has a large aerospace ecosystem. This investment is about helping more local people find their way into it.
📍 AROUND CINCY
🌳 1,000 free trees are up for grabs
Cincinnati Parks' Fall ReLeaf program is back. Over 38 years, it has distributed roughly 27,000 trees across the city.
🎃 6,000 pumpkins are taking over the Zoo
Jack O'Lantern Glow returns this week with a half-mile trail of hand-carved pumpkins.
Jack O'Lantern Glow dates & tickets →
A major photography archive goes public
The Cincinnati Art Museum opens Nancy Rexroth: Secrets of My Power on Friday. The free exhibition is the first career retrospective of the Ohio-connected photographer.
Explore the Nancy Rexroth: Secrets of My Power exhibition →
🙌 SHOW UP
See Cincinnati in a different light
THURSDAY–SUNDAY · 7–11 PM · DOWNTOWN + NKY · FREE
BLINK is back, covering more than 35 blocks with projection mapping, light installations, new murals, live performances and interactive art. Thursday’s opening celebration starts around TQL Stadium before the lights officially come on around sunset.
Best for: Almost everyone, but especially an evening with friends, family or an out-of-town guest.
The move: Skip downtown parking. Metro is running BLINK Park & Rides from Cincinnati State and Crossroads Oakley.
Take the kids trick-or-treating at the Zoo
SATURDAY–SUNDAY · NOON–5 PM · CINCINNATI ZOO · INCLUDED WITH ADMISSION
HallZOOween kicks off this weekend with trick-or-treat stations, animal enrichment, games, a costume parade and kid-friendly Halloween activities throughout the Zoo. It runs several weekends through Nov. 1.
Best for: Families with younger kids.
The move: Bring your own treat bag and get there before noon if your kids want to join the Costume Cavalcade.
Cincinnati Zoo HallZOOween details →
Give a West Side pocket park three hours
SATURDAY · 9 AM–NOON · WEST PRICE HILL · VOLUNTEER
The Civic Garden Center is gathering volunteers at Dewey Avenue Pocket Park to pull weeds, clear trash and refresh mulch beds around its native plants and oak trees. Tools are provided, but volunteers should wear closed-toed shoes and bring water.
Best for: Anyone who wants a tangible way to help Cincinnati this weekend.
The move: Register as a Civic Garden Center volunteer before showing up.
🤝 DOING GOOD
Cincinnati ToolBank
Here’s a simple idea with outsized leverage: instead of making every nonprofit buy its own tools, let them borrow them.
The Cincinnati ToolBank operates a 25,000-square-foot warehouse with more than 330 types of tools and equipment available to charitable organizations for volunteer projects, repairs, events and community work.
To date, it reports equipping more than 7,100 projects, 36,000 volunteers and 230 member agencies, representing nearly $1.8 million in borrowed-tool value.
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👋 SOMEONE TO KNOW
Jessica Whyte is trying to give Latonia another place to linger
Jessica Whyte recently opened The Wordcage, a used-book and media shop on Decoursey Avenue near Ritte’s Corner.
The idea began after a visit to an independent bookstore in Yellow Springs. Whyte came home thinking Cincinnati’s region could use another place like it.
But the interesting part is not just the books. The Wordcage includes a back room Whyte hopes to make available free or inexpensively to nonprofits, community organizations, author events and neighborhood gatherings.
It’s the kind of small business that can become more than a transaction. A bookstore can also become a reason to walk a block, meet someone, stay awhile and return.
🗓️ LOOKING AHEAD
OCT. 16–17 · CINCINNATI PARKS HALLOWEEN HIKES
Caldwell Nature Preserve · The Oct. 16 character hike is designed especially for ages 3–10. Register →
OCT. 24–25 · CINCINNATI COFFEE FESTIVAL
Music Hall · Tickets start at $15 and popular entry windows can sell out. Get tickets →
NOV. 19–JAN. 3 · FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
Cincinnati Zoo · Five million LED lights, Santa, Fiona’s Fairyland and more. Plan ahead →
NOV. 20–DEC. 28 · CINCINNATI CHRISTKINDLMARKT
Smale Riverfront Park · Free admission to Cincinnati’s German-style holiday market. See the schedule →
NOV. 26 · THANKSGIVING DAY RACE
TQL Stadium · Registration is open for the 117th 10K, plus a 5K and kids run. Register →
DEC. 17–27 · THE NUTCRACKER
Music Hall · Cincinnati Ballet’s holiday production returns with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s score live. Get tickets →
💌 PASS THE GOOD NEWS
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✝️ A GOOD WORD
Jeremiah 29:7 points God’s people toward the welfare of the place where they live.
That can sound abstract until you look around.
Sometimes seeking the good of a city looks like creating jobs. Sometimes it’s planting a tree, lending someone a tool, opening a gathering place or spending a Saturday restoring a park.
Loving a city is rarely one grand gesture.
Usually, it’s a lot of people choosing to make the place around them a little better.
See you next Thursday at 5:55 AM.
