The Short Version

• To coincide with America’s 250th birthday, Second Horizon Capital launched its 250 Acts of Community initiative across seven retail properties in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Utah and Virginia.
• Each center is working to complete 250 community-focused experiences, volunteer opportunities and acts of service between May and September.
• The initiative includes efforts like blood drives, food collections, teacher and first responder appreciation campaigns, kindness bracelet-making and events to recognize military families.
• The campaign reflects Second Horizon’s broader strategy of transforming underutilized retail centers into active community hubs.
• The company sees community impact and property performance as connected priorities that can reinforce one another and support long-term value creation.

Community Programming Becomes a Portfolio Strategy

Second Horizon Capital is marking America’s 250th birthday with an initiative that’s closely tied to its core strategy of transforming underutilized centers into strong community hubs. The company has launched a 250 Acts of Community initiative across its seven properties in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Utah and Virginia. It hopes the campaign will inspire community engagement, local impact and meaningful connection. “We want to celebrate our country while celebrating community and service, and this serves as a meaningful way to do that,” said Second Horizon Capital senior vice president of impact Kelsey Overby.

The company has set an ambitious goal for each center to complete 250 community-focused experiences, volunteer opportunities and acts of service between May and September. The acts range from small gestures to organized events like blood drives, collections for local food shelves and thank-you-card campaigns to honor teachers, military veterans and first responders. “While each center is working toward the same shared mission, what makes it authentic is that every center is approaching it in their own way, reflecting the needs and priorities of their local community,” said Overby.

A Shared Vision, Locally Tailored

At Layton Hills Mall in Utah, the mall management team is weaving Acts of Community into its summer Kids Club program. The free weekly events typically feature educational activities and crafts. The mall team also is adding community-oriented activities, such as stations to write thank-you notes or draw pictures that will be delivered to first responders in the community. “It helps us be able to reinforce that Layton Hills Mall role is a community hub while we’re creating memorable experiences for our customers,” said CBRE’s Glady Larsen, marketing and community engagement manager for the property.

In May, Layton Hills Mall partnered with a local nonprofit, Operation Hero, and one of its restaurant tenants to host a Women Behind the Heroes appreciation breakfast. The breakfast welcomed approximately 20 military spouses, mothers and sisters who shared their stories and experiences. “Military families and families of fallen service members often face unique challenges, and feeling connected to their community can make a tremendous difference,” said Operation Hero founder Antionette Stapley. “Layton Hills Mall has created welcoming opportunities for all military families, veterans and survivors to come together, build relationships and feel valued.”

Building Deeper Community Partnerships

The 250 Acts of Community initiative is rooted in Second Horizon Capital’s standing commitment to enhancing and deepening community engagement across its portfolio. In fact, some centers already are closing in on completing 250 acts, and the expectation is that they will far surpass that goal.

Prior to the launch of the initiative, Second Horizon Capital centers already were working with more than 200 different community partners, including libraries, museums, cultural organizations and nonprofit groups. “We dedicate a lot of time and resources developing and supporting family-friendly programming centered on placemaking, with added intentionality to help enhance and improve community life for local communities,” said Overby.

Programs like 250 Acts of Community create opportunities for visitors to engage with their centers well beyond shopping. “Whether somebody attends an event or participates in a service project or celebrates a local hero, they become part of that shared experience,” said Overby. Those shared experiences help create stronger relationships between each center and the community and reinforce the role that properties can play as important gathering places, she added.

The 250 Acts initiative is creating opportunities for mall property teams to deepen existing relationships with community partners and form new ones. “The initiative has opened doors to conversations and partnerships that may not have happened otherwise, and we believe those relationships will continue well beyond the campaign,” said JLL’s Shae Hughes, marketing and community engagement manager at Park Plaza in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The Business Case for Community Impact

The Marketplaces Industry clearly has recognized the value of community-centered programming and experiential engagement. Property owners and managers have countless examples of supporting their communities by donating time, resources and space. “At the same time, we see tremendous opportunity for shopping centers to continue to evolve as community hubs,” added Overby.

A shopping center has a unique ability to bring together businesses, residents, nonprofits, civic organizations and local leaders in ways that very few other places can. Second Horizon Capital hopes that its 250 Acts of Community initiative will encourage conversations and inspire others in the industry to think creatively about community engagement.

“The more intentional we are about making those connections, the stronger our communities become,” said Overby. “We also believe that one of the industry’s biggest opportunities is demonstrating that community impact and center performance are not competing priorities but instead, when executed thoughtfully, can reinforce one another and drive long-term value creation.”