Bellevue Celebrates Pollinators with Mayor’s Monarch Pledge and Pollinator Party

Pollinator Party at the Bellevue Farmer’s Market on Saturday, June 6!

Bellevue, NE – To kick off a month-long celebration of pollinators, Bellevue’s participation in the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, and Green Bellevue’s ongoing efforts to educate and engage residents at the Bellevue Farmers Market, Green Bellevue – joined by Milkweed Matters and the Greater Omaha Native Plant Society – invites the community to the Pollinator Party at the Bellevue Farmers Market this Saturday, June 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Washington Park on E. 20th and Franklin Street.

Bellevue is proud to join communities across the country participating in the National Wildlife Federation’s Mayor’s Monarch Pledge.  In the pledge submission, Mayor Rusty Hike highlighted Bellevue’s partnership with Green Bellevue as Nebraska’s first Bee City USA community and the city’s ongoing commitment to pollinator conservation through education, native habitat expansion, and community engagement. The pledge may be viewed at:  https://tinyurl.com/MayorsMonarchPledge.

National Pollinator Week, observed June 22–28, 2026, is an annual celebration of pollinator health coordinated by Pollinator Partnership. This year’s theme is “Life on a Leaf: Celebrating Caterpillars and Host Plants.” Green Bellevue’s Pollinator Party helps kick off a month of community awareness about the vital role pollinators play in our food supply – approximately one out of every three bites of food we eat depends on them – and in maintaining healthy ecosystems. 

Saturday’s Pollinator Party Highlights

• Pollinator Passport Activity – Pick up a passport at the Green Bellevue table at the gazebo and visit participating vendors whose products depend on pollinators for a stamp. Return your completed passport for one of our prizes including our popular pollinator wool dryer balls, bamboo toothbrushes, and bamboo toilet paper
• Free native plant seedlings for your pollinator gardens along with gardening advice
• Free face painting for children
• Pollinator habitat yard signs available for purchase
• Information about Green Bellevue’s Pollinator Protector Pledge 
• Learn about the Milkweed Matters seed ball initiative to restore roadside milkweed for pollinators, including monarch butterflies
• Connect with fellow native plant enthusiasts with the Greater Omaha Native Plant Society’s monthly meet-up

About Bee City USA, Mayor’s Monarch Pledge and Pollinator Week

Bee City USA is an initiative of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. The Mayor’s Monarch Pledge engages cities and communities in protecting monarch butterflies and other pollinators through education, habitat creation, and community action.  National Pollinator Month is anchored by Pollinator Week, an annual celebration in support of pollinator health managed by Pollinator Partnership to raise awareness of pollinator health and the actions individuals and communities can take to protect them.

About Green Bellevue

Initiated in 2009 by the City of Bellevue, Green Bellevue brings people together to promote a more resilient, sustainable community. We are a diverse network of individuals, businesses, organizations, schools, and public entities based in Bellevue, Sarpy County and beyond the greater metro area. Green Bellevue serves to increase awareness, enabling individuals and groups to undertake programs enhancing our neighborhoods, preserving our natural resources and fostering stewardship of our environment. As a grass-roots movement, Green Bellevue is YOU!

About Milkweed Matters

Milkweed Matters is a regional volunteer-led nonprofit dedicated to helping educate about pollinator conservation and help restore habitat along roadsides and community gardens. Milkweed Matters makes thousands of milkweed seedballs every year through outreach with schools, scouts, garden groups, churches, and other groups. The seedballs are taken to RAGBRAI and passed out to riders to toss along the roadsides and help restore pollinator habitat. Milkweed Matters also sponsors community pollinator gardens and partners with pollinator groups in the area. The group works throughout the Council Bluffs, Glenwood and Omaha metro areas to increase native pollinator habitat in roadsides and community gardens, and engages all kinds of people in the process.

About Greater Omaha Native Plant Society

The Greater Omaha Native Plant Society is a local group that discusses and advocates the use of native plants in the home landscape and Nebraska community.  The Society meets on the first Monday of the month. Through educational programs, plant sales, community outreach, and partnerships with local organizations, the Society helps residents create landscapes that conserve water, support wildlife, and provide critical habitat for pollinators and other beneficial species. Formerly known as the Bellevue Native Plant Soci