Volunteers planted fruits and vegetables on Wednesday in Louisville’s Smoketown neighborhood at a site tied to Muhammad Ali’s early life, marking the 10th anniversary of the boxing legend’s death with service projects across the city.

The garden sits at the former Presbyterian Community Center, one of the first gyms where Ali trained. Now part of the Smoketown Family Wellness Center, the space is being used to help address food insecurity in a neighborhood leaders describe as a food desert.

"We are located in the old Presbyterian Community Center, which housed one of the first gyms that Muhammad Ali trained in," Charlotte Gay Stites said. "So to be a part of this Day of Compassion, and to uphold his beliefs and core values, is a big part of who we are."

Stites said access to healthy food remains a challenge in Smoketown, making the garden especially meaningful.

"In some neighborhoods, particularly like Smoketown, we’re in a food desert," she said. "Getting healthy foods is very difficult and challenging."

Volunteer Vincent Zialen said spending a few hours helping was a simple way to honor Ali’s legacy.

"If we can get out here for two hours to kind of give back in that little sense, and kind of follow that same path and honor his legacy, it’s the very least we can do," he said.

The gardening effort was one of more than 30 service projects organized for Ali’s annual Day of Compassion. More than 1,000 volunteers worked with nonprofit groups across Louisville, including at Feed Louisville, where volunteers, among them Ali’s widow, Lonnie Ali, packed food and supplies for people in need.

Garret McCorkle said the idea grew out of conversations about how best to remember Ali a decade after his death.

"It came about with me and a few colleagues going to Mrs. Ali and asking how she envisioned the 10th anniversary of Muhammad’s passing," McCorkle said. "True to Muhammad and true to Mrs. Ali, they said they would love to see the city of Louisville giving back."

Organizers said the goal was to reflect the spirit that filled Louisville after Ali’s death and to channel it into action.

Ten years later, the city is honoring its hometown champion not just with remembrance, but with service.