Grasso Pollinator Alliance didn't start in a boardroom. It started in a backyard in Mays Landing, NJ, with a man, his bees, and a deep conviction that South Jersey's natural world deserved a champion.
Founder & President
Don Grasso has spent his entire professional life working with his hands and shaping the land of South Jersey. In 2007, he founded both Grasso Concrete, LLC and Grasso's Landscape Service, LLC, building a reputation across Gloucester, Camden, Salem, and Atlantic Counties for quality work, reliability, and deep knowledge of the South Jersey landscape.
His career in commercial and residential construction gave him something invaluable: an intimate understanding of how land is shaped, developed, and, too often, stripped of its natural character. He has personally built three homes, and his background spans construction, turf grass management, landscape design, horticulture, and ornamental plants.
That breadth of knowledge, from concrete foundations to native plant ecosystems, would prove to be exactly the right combination for what came next.
For years, Don's passion for nature lived alongside his work in the trades, expressed through his home, his garden, and his small farm in Mays Landing. But it was the honeybees that changed the direction of his life. What began as a single hive, a hobby, a curiosity, grew into something far deeper.
Don started learning everything he could about bee biology, colony behavior, native plant relationships, and the complex web of life that pollinators support. The more he learned, the more clearly he saw what was being lost.
“What began as a simple hobby in connecting and learning from nature has evolved into a profound commitment. I continually learn from these remarkable, industrious creatures, and the more I learn, the more I feel called to act.”Don Grasso, Founder & President
Don establishes both businesses, beginning nearly two decades of work across South Jersey's four counties. His landscape background gives him a firsthand view of the region's rapidly changing green spaces and declining natural habitat.
What starts as a hobby grows into a deep commitment. Don immerses himself in honeybee biology, native plant ecology, and pollinator conservation science, and begins to understand the scale of what is being lost across South Jersey.
Don decides passion alone isn't enough. He recruits a founding board, drafts bylaws, and files for nonprofit incorporation with the State of New Jersey.
Grasso Pollinator Alliance, Inc. is formally registered with the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. NJ Registration #0451397858.
The Alliance launches publicly, highlighting three upcoming pollinator observances, World Bee Day (May 20), National Pollinator Week (June 22 to 28), and National Honey Bee Day (August 15), as early opportunities to engage the community.
Volunteers install native milkweed, wildflowers, and trees at a public site in Mays Landing, creating a model pollinator habitat and learning how to reduce pesticide use and improve stormwater management.
With a goal of five habitat restoration projects and 500 to 800 students reached in 2026 alone, the Alliance is pursuing grant funding, building municipal partnerships, and expanding veterans programming across all four counties.
This isn't theory. It's decades of hands-on experience applied to conservation.
Decades in the building trades across four counties, understanding how land is developed and how to work within that reality.
Professional design expertise applied to creating beautiful, functional pollinator habitats communities are proud of.
Deep knowledge of turf systems: exactly how and where to convert lawn to native habitat for maximum ecological impact.
Hands-on knowledge of South Jersey's native plant communities and ornamental horticulture.
Active beekeeper with deep knowledge of colony health, forage requirements, and the relationship between bees and native plants.
A longtime South Jersey business owner and Local 592 member with trusted relationships that open doors.
Browse photo galleries from the apiary, the plantings, and the community projects that built this organization. Tap a gallery to open it, tap any photo to view it full screen.
Every spring, volunteers start thousands of native seedlings beside the hives. The plants go into neglected public spaces across South Jersey.
From lake shorelines to converted turf, every planting connects another link in the pollinator corridor.
Green spaces the community can actually use, like the picnic patio and rock garden gathering space at Elmer Little League.
Ask Don why he started Grasso Pollinator Alliance and he doesn't give you a rehearsed answer. He talks about watching a hive collapse and feeling the weight of it. About kids playing in a yard with no butterflies. About knowing the land well enough to see how much has already been lost, and believing deeply that it doesn't have to stay that way.
Every decision is filtered through the lens of someone who has kept bees, lost colonies, and understands the intimate relationship between a hive and its landscape.
Don has worked alongside South Jersey's homeowners, builders, and municipalities for nearly two decades. He knows these communities, and they know him.
Laying concrete, building a garden, or installing a habitat, the standard is the same: do it right, make it last, leave the place better than you found it.
The veterans engagement program reflects Don's belief that meaningful conservation work and meaningful human service belong together.
The Alliance is built for the long haul, for the students, volunteers, and future residents who deserve to inherit a thriving landscape.
Everything comes back to a simple truth: Don Grasso loves the land of South Jersey, and he is not willing to watch it disappear without a fight.
Whether you donate, volunteer, or simply plant a native flower in your yard, you're part of the story Don started in Mays Landing.