Planting a pollinator garden at the Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County is just the start of the Rotary Club of Warren’s Operation Pollination activities. The 10-by-10-foot garden was installed in June as Christine Cope was completing her presidency of the Warren club. Local monarch butterfly expert Susan Sexton of Youngstown advised on plant selection to draw and feed pollinators. Rotarians and members of AWL’s board and staff did the planting.

Cope is President and CEO of United Way of Trumbull County. She was building toward the pollination project throughout her Rotary presidency by sharing positive environmental news snippets during weekly club meetings and newsletter items, distributing seed packets, and inviting speakers to address topics related to Operation Pollination. The club is willing to start pollinator plots “anywhere we can as long as we have capacity,” Cope said. To her delight, a pending site is at Ultium Cells, the electric battery manufacturer in Lordstown. A company representative spoke at Cope’s President’s Night event about environmental responsibility and Ultium’s goal to grow a pollinator garden on land it owns. A collaboration began to germinate.

Cope describes herself as an environmentalist and nature lover. “I see habitat being taken away and its effects on wildlife,” she said. “All life on earth is dependent on [humans] changing course, in big or little ways.”As a photographer, she sees subtle changes in nature that can be captured through her lens. “When you’re out there, nothing is more beautiful,” she said. “We are stewards of this Earth. The harm we have done is what we must undo.”

She is encouraged by Operation Pollination and “the collaboration – we are all finding one another,” she said. Collaborators include master gardeners, landscapers (for their understanding of native plants), land banks, business leaders and educators.