In 1891, crop failures and government mismanagement of the wheat harvest led to a catastrophic famine in Russia.  The December 4, 1891 issue of the newspaper the Northwestern Miller, W.C Edgar called for a humanitarian relief mission (the first major international food relief effort seen in America) to alleviate the crisis.  Reeve was appointed as one of the three Relief Commissioners and worked to raise subscriptions of grain from farmers and millers throughout Minnesota and Nebraska.  Reeve was sent ahead of the Steamship Missouri, first to Washington DC in order to facilitate the paperwork needed for the voyage and then on to Berlin to arrange for the distribution of the grain.  The delegation was hosted by a number of high-ranking Prussian and Russian aristocrats and dignitaries.  The relief mission, and his quasi-diplomatic status afforded Reeve the opportunity to obtain a number of souvenirs from the trip.