Pollinator Pathway

If you’ve lived in the Central Area for 14+ years you may remember a project called the Pollinator Pathway. It was conceived by Sarah Bergman to plant native, pollinator attracting plants in the planting strips along E. Columbia from Madrona to Seattle U.

The Central Area District Council (CANDC) wants to resurrect the pollinator project, expanding it to include any yards and/or containers along with planting strips. We are in the very early stages of Bring Back the Birds and Bees CD, but envision providing various levels of support to people in the CD who want to create pollinator gardens. There will be an initial pilot program to work out the kinks and then we hope to have the funding to run with it.

If you are looking for a fun volunteer opportunity, we’re looking for help with grants, plant acquisition, website design, posting flyers, outreach and more!

Below is the beginning of the document we’ll use for funding and outreach:

Bring Back the Birds and Bees CD

Purpose: The Central Area Pollinator Pathway project is designed to create Central Area-wide opportunities to build community through gardening. There is an additional goal of improving the natural environment in the Central Area by increasing habitat for bees and birds, which then helps improve all aspects of neighbors’ well-being.

Scope: Through social media, posters, neighborhood blogs, community councils and other community groups we will offer free native plants. The free plants come with the opportunity to be mentored in creating habitat for bees and birds by partnering with groups such as (TBD), and/or any other group that makes sense. In addition to mentoring, if the gardener is interested, we will also encourage neighbors to volunteer to help with the planting.

Eligibility: Anyone living within the Central Area Neighborhood District Council defined Central Area boundaries: Broadway/Boren/Rainier/MLK/Massachusetts/Lake Washington/Madison who has access to a planting area may request participation in the Central Area Pollinator Pathways project. Plants and mentoring will be allocated on a first come first served basis as long as funding is available.

Funding: In order to purchase the plants and provide a stipend for our mentors we will explore funding through private charitable organizations.

Contacts: Mary Pat DiLeva: mpd12000@hotmail.com, landline 206.324.5161, cell 206.839.7468; John Stewart: stewartj@seanet.com, cell 206.658.3700.

~Mary Pat DiLeva