Butterfly Effect: How Ford Employees are Working to Help Save Monarchs

When Josh Ducharme, Environmental Control Engineer at Ford’s Essex Engine Plant in Windsor, Ontario toured the University of Western Ontario’s butterfly garden during a conference, he learned some surprising facts about the monarch butterfly.

First, this important pollinator species is endangered due to habitat loss and weather conditions that are impacting their annual migration patterns. And second, milkweed plants – the only plants that monarchs will lay their eggs in and the only source of food for their caterpillars – are in short supply.    

While Josh came away from the presentation with a new passion for protecting the monarch butterfly, it wasn’t until a few years later that he discovered an even more impactful way that he could help. It turns out that the Ford Essex Engine Plant site has a 35-acre natural corridor that includes lots and lots of native milkweed. And Josh also knew that Ford is committed to being a good neighbor in its plant communities and is eager to partner with local organizations to take care of natural resources.  

“I grew up in this area and know how important the monarch butterfly is to this region, so I thought, ‘here’s something we can do,’” said Ducharme. Around Earth Day last year, he reached out to Leo Silvestri, a local gardener and founder of the Monarch Butterfly Enthusiasts of Windsor, Essex, and Chatham-Kent Counties. Also known as “The Milkweed Man,” Leo and his group of 4,000+ are passionate about pollinators and help promote the creation of butterfly-friendly gardens that include milkweed and rich nectar flowers.

Planting seeds   

Leo visited the Essex Engine Plant and gave his presentation on butterflies and pollinators, and the two came up with a plan. Josh would organize a team of Ford volunteers to harvest milkweed seeds at the plant site, and Leo would engage his network of home gardeners, horticulturists and butterfly enthusiasts to plant the seeds in their neighborhoods and yards.  

Over the course of several gatherings in late 2024 through this spring, Ford employees, local volunteers and community organizations – including Leo’s Monarch Butterfly Enthusiasts group – harvested, prepared and packaged up more than 1.2 million milkweed seeds from the Essex Engine Plant grounds. The seeds were then distributed through 25+ local community events for planting.   

“We harvested more than a million seeds,” said Silvestri. “Thanks to Josh and the team at Ford’s Essex plant, so many people are curious about how they can grow milkweed and be a part of helping to bring back the monarch population.”    

Doing good is contagious 

The milkweed effort was so successful that it inspired members of the Unifor Local 200 to organize their own event with Leo’s group. On March 29th, they gathered to make wildflower seed balls that can be tossed into areas that are hard to reach.   

“Wildflower nectar feeds butterflies, birds and bees,” said Silvestri. “So, more wildflowers mean greater biodiversity and a healthier habitat for pollinators.”  

 According to Josh, the butterfly project has a lot of levels to it. Building on what has already been done, he’d like to see the Essex Engine Plant site find ways to reestablish more native plants on the grounds to support the local ecosystem, and possibly grow a community pollinator garden that could serve as a source a beautification and education for Ford and employees and nearby residents.  

Working together with the community 

The connection between the plant and the community is especially important to Josh. By collaborating with Leo Silvestri and the Monarch Butterfly Enthusiasts group, he and his fellow Ford employees have established connections with hundreds of local gardeners and horticulturalists and have inspired neighbors ranging from local high school students, to families with kids, to anyone who loves butterflies to come out and volunteer.       

“Ford is such an integral part of the local community – most people around here know somebody who works at the Essex plant,” said Ducharme. “This volunteering initiative shows how we can come together with our neighbors for the good of the local habitat and for the good of the planet. If you’re taking care of the monarch butterfly, you’re also taking care of other pollinators, and supporting the natural environment.”  

Recently, the Ford Essex Engine Plant won the 2025 Ford Environmental Quality Office Environmental Excellence Award for Community Outreach for the work they are doing together with the local community to support pollinator habitats. Josh, Leo, the Monarch Butterfly Enthusiasts of Windsor, Essex, and Chatham-Kent Counties, and the entire Ford Essex team are looking forward to witnessing the next monarch butterfly migration in the region, which begins in early June.  

Want to know how you can support pollinators in your own backyard? Learn more here.