👋 GOOD MORNING, CINCY
Some of the most meaningful work happening around Cincinnati isn't particularly glamorous. It's the work of people who keep showing up, often for decades, because someone else is counting on them.
This week, we're highlighting a few of those people. From caring for seniors to keeping families on the road and neighborhoods looking their best, there's a lot of good worth knowing about.
THIS WEEK IN CINCY
❤️ From a failing nursing home to 1.2 million meals a year. One Cincinnati volunteer's decades of service helped change how we care for seniors.
📚 Two million books and counting. A Cincinnati-based literacy initiative reaches a milestone, helping children build home libraries across the country.
🙌 Three ways to make a difference this week. Support families facing serious illnesses, neighbors experiencing homelessness, and local veterans.
🏡 WORTH KNOWING
He could have walked away. Instead, he helped build something remarkable.
In 1980, a young Cincinnati attorney named Mike Hirschfeld joined the board of Wesley Hall, a struggling nursing home in Riverside.
The organization was running out of money. Regulators had cited serious problems. And closing seemed like a real possibility.
But Hirschfeld saw something more important than a failing institution. He saw people who needed somewhere to go.
So he stayed.
Over the following decades, Hirschfeld and countless other volunteers helped guide Wesley Hall through an extraordinary transformation. Eventually, the organization shifted away from nursing-home operations and toward helping seniors remain independent in their own homes.
Today, we know that organization as Meals on Wheels of Southwest Ohio & Northern Kentucky.
The numbers:
Approximately 1.2 million meals produced annually.
Services reaching seniors across 13 counties.
More than 10,000 older adults receiving essential support, from meals and transportation to social connection.
But there's more to the work than delivering food. A knock at the door can also mean someone checking in, noticing a problem, or simply offering a familiar face to someone who might otherwise spend the day alone.
Now 75, Hirschfeld is still at it.
He's co-chairing the organization's $30 million Driving Into the Future campaign, which aims to expand meal-production capacity to more than three million meals annually. And it comes at a time when the need for senior services continues to grow.
For his decades of service, Hirschfeld has been named the Association of Fundraising Professionals' 2026 Volunteer of the Year in Greater Cincinnati.
There's something worth remembering in all of this: Hirschfeld didn't set out to build one of the region's largest senior-service organizations. He saw people who needed help and chose not to walk away.
Forty-six years later, that decision is still making a difference.
Want to be part of it? Explore Meals on Wheels volunteer opportunities, from meal packing and delivery to friendly phone calls with isolated seniors.
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.
📍 AROUND CINCY
The Cincinnati-based Scripps Howard Fund has distributed its two-millionth book through its If You Give a Child a Book campaign.
The milestone happened at a Cleveland school, but the mission reaches underserved students nationwide. Children choose their own books to keep, building home libraries one story at a time.
Erlanger-Elsmere schools joined Freestore Foodbank, Feed the Children, and Niagara Cares to organize the distribution of 400 boxes of food and essential supplies this week.
The district also operates a twice-monthly food pantry that served approximately 310 families last year. It's a reminder that helping students succeed sometimes starts with making sure families have what they need at home.
The Cincinnati Zoo welcomed Raja, a 33-year-old Asian elephant from Saint Louis Zoo.
His arrival is part of a coordinated conservation effort to maintain genetic diversity among endangered Asian elephants. Visitors may catch a glimpse of Raja at Elephant Trek, although introductions to the herd mean he won't always be visible.
ArtsWave partnered with NKU and MeetNKY to bring 15 Kentucky high school art teachers to the region for a new educator summit during BLINK.
Teachers explored galleries, met artists, and discovered resources to bring back to their classrooms. Sometimes investing in students starts by investing in the people who teach them.
🤝 ORGANIZATION OF THE WEEK
Keeping Cincinnati beautiful takes more than picking up trash.
A discarded tire. An overgrown vacant lot. A street corner that's become a dumping ground.
They're easy problems to overlook, especially when they aren't in our own backyard. But they matter to the people who live there.
Since 1978, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful has worked alongside residents, schools, businesses, and neighborhood groups to care for the places Cincinnati calls home.
And the work goes well beyond litter cleanup.
The organization helps remove illegal dumping, restore neglected spaces, create public art, improve green spaces, and give residents the tools to make changes in their own neighborhoods.
In one of its documented cleanup efforts, volunteers helped clear 22 illegal-dumping hotspots across Cincinnati.
Its published impact dashboard also highlights more than 13,000 volunteer hours and 274,000 pounds of litter and debris collected, alongside hundreds of community cleanup projects.
Behind those numbers are neighbors choosing to take responsibility for places they share.
Here's a simple way to get involved.
Through Keep Cincinnati Beautiful's Adopt-A-Spot program, individuals, families, businesses, and neighborhood groups can care for an area of public space. The organization provides supplies and guidance.
You don't need a large organization or an elaborate plan to participate.
Sometimes making Cincinnati better starts with a few neighbors, a Saturday morning, and a couple of trash bags.
🙌 SHOW UP
Three ways to support meaningful work around Cincinnati this week.
Thursday, November 5 · 5–8 PM · Woodward Theater, OTR · Ticket details through organizer
The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition is gathering supporters to celebrate people and organizations working to address homelessness in our community.
The evening includes a reception and recognition of individuals advancing the organization's mission.
The move: It's happening tonight. Check with the organizer about admission availability before heading downtown.
Friday, November 6 · 7–10 PM · Carnegie Hall, Newport · $150 general admission
An evening of food flights, specialty beverages, entertainment, and stories from families supported by A Kid Again.
Proceeds help provide free Adventures for children facing life-threatening medical conditions and their families, giving them a chance to make memories beyond hospitals and appointments.
VIP admission begins at 6 PM.
The move: Make it a date night that supports local families.
Wednesday, November 11 · 4–8 PM · WCPO 9 Telethon · Free to watch
For Veterans Day, People Working Cooperatively is raising money to help low-income veterans and surviving spouses remain safe and independent in their homes.
The organization provides critical repairs and accessibility improvements, including wheelchair ramps.
Over the previous decade, PWC reports assisting more than 6,500 veteran households.
The move: Tune in to WCPO 9 or support the campaign online. You don't need to attend an event to make a difference.
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👋 SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Bruce Kintner knows a working car can change someone's life.
For a parent trying to get to work, take children to school, or make a doctor's appointment, an unexpected car repair can become a genuine crisis.
Bruce Kintner decided to do something about it.
In 2007, he founded Samaritan Car Care Clinic in Covington to provide affordable vehicle maintenance and repairs for families struggling financially.
One of those families belonged to Mia Potter, who couldn't afford needed repairs to her van. The clinic helped her keep reliable transportation.
Today, the nonprofit works with more than 10 referral agencies and reports helping over 380 families in 2025, many led by single mothers.
For that work, Kintner was named Northern Kentucky's 2026 Small Organization Executive of the Year.
🗓️ LOOKING AHEAD
A few things worth putting on your calendar.
Union Terminal's beloved holiday trains celebrate their 80th season. Included with Cincinnati Museum Center admission.
Meet more than 120 authors at the downtown Main Library. Free admission, discussions, signings, and family activities.
Five million lights return to the Cincinnati Zoo. Included with regular zoo admission.
Volunteer with People Working Cooperatively to help older adults and neighbors with disabilities prepare their homes for winter. Register in advance.
Country music and holiday fun at Newport Car Barn, benefiting The Point Arc's programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Tickets advertised at $50 in advance.
A Cincinnati holiday tradition returns to Music Hall with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Check performance dates and ticket availability.
💌 PASS THE GOOD NEWS
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✝️ A GOOD WORD
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9, ESV
There is something quietly powerful about faithfulness.
Not every act of service is exciting. Not every good deed produces an immediate result. And much of the work that makes a community stronger happens without anyone noticing.
But the people who keep showing up remind us that good things are often built slowly.
This week, consider one small commitment worth keeping, especially when the initial excitement wears off.
See you next Thursday at 5:55 AM.
