Since kicking off on Saturday, the annual Reds Caravan has been rolling through big cities and small towns to greet fans across Reds Country, and that included an impactful day of service in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The MLK Day leg of the Caravan made three stops on Monday, beginning with an early morning visit to Freestore Foodbank. Reds players and prospects Rece Hinds, Nestor Lorant, Ethan O¡¯Donnell and Carson Rudd helped assemble food boxes for Freestore¡¯s Power Pack.

The Power Pack program combats childhood hunger by sending nutritious meals home with children on Fridays to ensure they have something to eat on weekends and during school breaks. Each ¡°pack¡± contains two breakfasts, two lunches, two snacks and two drinks, all of which are selected to meet the nutritional needs of the kids while also being easy to prepare. Freestore sends the Power Packs to local schools, churches and community organizations which in turn distribute them to the children. The program has provided over 1.5 million meals since its inception.

After assembling nearly 500 Power Packs, the Reds group jumped back on the bus for the short commute to the Queen City Book Bank (QCBB), a nonprofit that donates books to under-resourced children in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area. The players toured the facility and had the chance to add their thumbprints and write the name of their favorite book on the volunteer wall. Then they got to work unpacking books sent to QCBB from Target, Walmart and other businesses. After sorting through them all, they re-boxed the books to be dispersed to kids in the region.

QCBB has hosted an MLK Day of Service for the past four years in an effort to boost their number of volunteers and amplify their mission. The service day has grown to the point where there is more accomplished on that day than is typically completed in a week. To date, the organization has donated over 318,000 books to the community.

¡°This morning was a really cool experience,¡± Hinds said. ¡°Martin Luther King Jr. did so much for this country, so doing the little things that I can do for Cincinnati and the surrounding communities is heartwarming to me, and I love to do it. Whatever I can do, even if it¡¯s just helping one person, it can really make a difference so I¡¯m going to do it.¡±

That evening, it was wheels down again as the Caravan made its way to the P&G MLB Cincinnati Reds Youth Academy. While Lorant was unable to attend, Reds pitcher Brent Suter, one of the organization's top pitching prospects Zach Maxwell, and former Red Corky Miller joined the morning group for this leg. They fielded questions from a large group of the Academy¡¯s RBI softball players before their practice. The girls inquired about everything from advice for an aspiring ballplayer and if they ever thought about giving up during hard times in their careers to whether or not they played any instruments.

¡°It was great seeing their faces and their smiles. And they asked some really good questions that I wasn¡¯t expecting,¡± Hinds said. ¡°It seems like all these girls have a good head on their shoulders, and it was great to have the opportunity to hopefully make a small impact on them.¡±

After the Q&A, Hinds, O¡¯Donnell and Miller went back to the batting cages where they offered hitting tips, signed autographs, took photos and spoke with some of the girls and their families. Suter, Maxwell and Rudd remained on the indoor field to assist with practice by hitting grounders, fielding throws and offering general instruction.

¡°I wish I could have had the opportunity to learn from guys in our position when I was their age,¡± Maxwell said. ¡°I would have been ecstatic to go to something like this, so knowing that I can provide a little something to these kids is great. It means a lot to be out here and see firsthand that the sport we love is still growing.¡±

The Caravan continues making its way around Reds Country through Saturday with public fan stops still scheduled in cities around Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia. For an up-to-date list of locations and appearances and to keep up with all the latest Caravan news, visit Reds.com/Caravan.