Olivia May, 5, of Zelienople with the help of her mother, Megan May, built a sign to alert drivers of a duck crossing along route 68 Thursday, July 16, 2020.

A young activist was born as Olivia May, 5, watched her mother, Meg May, prepare signs to protest in support of Black Lives Matter.

In the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police and months into the coronavirus pandemic, the social climate was tense.

“One day, she just looked at me and said, 'Mommy, I want to make signs,'” Meg said.

Meg agreed, figuring Olivia meant to decorate her signs with rainbows or unicorns.But the young Zelienople resident wanted to follow her mother's example of activism. She had a different cause in mind: protecting animals, one duck at a time.“She said, 'I want to make signs because speeding and killing ducks is not OK,'” Meg said.<i>This is an excerpt from an article that appears in Sunday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.</i>

Olivia May, 5, of Zelienople with the help of her mother, Megan May, build a sign to alert drivers of a duck crossing along route 68 Thursday, July 16, 2020.