Pollinators and CCC

On May 11, 2017, Central Community College's Grand Island Campus was named a Bee Campus USA. Our campus became the 29th school in the U.S. to be given this designation. Later, the college as a whole became designated as a Bee Campus and is currently the only one in the state of Nebraska.

The Bee Campus USA program endorses a set of commitments, defined in an application, for creating sustainable habitats for pollinators, which are vital to feeding the planet. 1 in every 3 bites of food we eat is courtesy of insect pollination. Equally important, 90% of all wild plants and trees rely on pollinators for the survival of their species. Pollinators are facing global declines due to loss of habitat essential for food and shelter, diseases and parasites, and inappropriate pesticide use. Bee Campuses work to protect pollinators by raising awareness, enhancing pollinator habitats, and celebrating achievements.

Thanks to a grant from the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum, the Columbus Campus added a pollinator garden in August 2017. It is located south of the Facilities Management Office near the orchard trees. The garden is approximately 7,200 square feet and has about 1,460 flowers, grasses, and shrubs. 

In late spring 2025, Environmental Sustainability staff expanded the pollinator garden with new native plant additions, including: aster, liatris, milkweed, penstemon, poppy mallow, prairie dropseed, and more! 

Established in 2017, the Grand Island Pollinator Garden spans approximately 6,000 square feet, offering a vibrant native pollinator habitat that blooms across three of the four seasons. This garden teems with native insects and plants, providing an ideal space for students and staff to relax and observe the many ecological benefits provided. The garden is also full of stunning blooms from many native plant species including Grey-Headed Coneflower, Purple Poppy Mallow, Prairie Petunia, and Spiderwort just to name a few. 

In the fall of 2022, the Grand Island Campus welcomed a new green space just outside the Administration Building. This thoughtfully designed area features an array of native trees, shrubs, and plants, including Snowdrift Crabapple, Chinkapin Oak, Eastern Redbud, Snowberry, Baby Viburnum, and Husker Red Penstemon, enhancing the campus with natural beauty and ecological value. 

The Hastings HMRM program received a CCC mini-grant for a pollinator garden, and it was planted in summer 2017 next to the Dawson gym. During the spring of 2020 the garden was expanded to the garden next to the Platte building. Both gardens are approximately 2,310 square feet. The gardens are maintained by the environmental sustainability staff and are an amazing habitat for all kinds of local native insects and birds. There is always something blooming in the garden from spring until late Fall. The garden hosts a mix of native flowering plants and native herbs to be used by the culinary department. A total of 12 volunteers planted swamp milkweed, coneflowers, sedges, and other native plants. Showy Milkweed was planted on the Hastings campus in the original pollinator garden for Monarchs and other insects. A portion of Milkweed was harvested as a food supply for Monarch rearing. 

In the fall of 2022, the Environmental Sustainability staff helped the Ord Learning Center to extend the Ord Pollinator garden, doubling the garden in size.  In the following spring, the garden was again extended to cover just under 1,000 square feet, right along the Aubles Pond and Nature Trail.  A few species of the plants added include Big bluestem, Sideoats Grama, Milkweed, Aster, Bee Balm and Horsemint.

We host an Earth Month event on the Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings and Columbus campus annually in April.  Each event consists of sustainable craft making, composting demonstrations, and an expo for student’s state fair projects.

The Environmental Sustainability Office (ESO) at CCC has been actively working to restore and add new pollinator habitat around all campus locations and would like to share sources to serve our students and community.  Whether you have a few feet of yard or a few hundred acres that are in need of landscaping, you too can create a vibrant and low maintenance habitat for pollinators!  Below we have added some of our favorite resources to help point you in the right direction to identify species and create a successful pollinator garden!

Sources:

1).  Xerces Society – a nonprofit environmental organization

https://www.xerces.org/pollinator-resource-center

2). Nebraska Statewide Arboretum

https://plantnebraska.org/
https://plantnebraska.org/resources-events/tips-help-how-to/plants-and-flowers.html

4) Homegrown National Park       
https://www.homegrownnationalpark.org/resources/

5). Plant Net is also a great resource to use for identifying plants.  It’s free to download and you can use it right from your phone.

6). Audubon (https://www.audubon.org/native-plants )