In August of this year I held a Pollinator Party for my neighbours on my front lawn. As a Butterfly Ranger with the David Suzuki Foundation my job is to encourage my community to create pollinator gardens in their yards or balconies. The idea is to create 12 of these gardens in my neighbourhood as a way to form a path for pollinators to have a place to feed and lay their eggs. Once 12 gardens exist we can get a pin on a Canada wide Butterflyway Map.
I advertised the event a week earlier via a poster on my lawn. With the help of 2 other Rangers we created posters and interactive activities ( seed bombs, bee bath activity, insect painting). I also purchased Native plants and seeds that I gave away to be planted.
During the event, pollinator posters were displayed on a table and next to them were interactive activities that one of us rangers facilitated. Furthermore, there were chairs arranged in a circle to facilitate conversation among neighbours as they enjoyed pizza and juice.
If I were to do this event again I would have advertised it more, door to door probably. Some of my neighbours didn’t notice the sign and therefore didn’t know about the event.
Overall, I’m very happy with how many people came by and showed interest in learning more about the role of Native plants and pollinators. Having a sit down area was a good idea as it made it more comfortable to interact with others. Many neighbours mentioned that they enjoyed themselves, were happy to meet new neighbours and even suggested having an annual pollinator party!
I’m very grateful for having received this grant as it brought my neighbours together.
