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Youth for Monarchs started as a creation care project at Christ the King Lutheran Church in West Chester, Ohio. Its original goal was to get local youth involved with community-based projects to foster stewardship for the land in their communities through education and habitat creation for monarch butterflies. From there, the monarch service project has spread its wings to other youth groups across the United States.
“I have been involved in Christian education for many years and I have never seen teenagers so enthusiastic about a service project. We decided that we needed to document what we did so that other youth groups could follow in our footsteps,” said Youth for Monarchs co-founder Donna Pellegrin.
The Youth for Monarchs program is an opportunity for youth groups from any denomination, organization or congregation to learn about monarchs and help create habitat. With guidance from partners including the Hamilton County Parks, Pollinator Partnership, and the Monarch Watch, Youth For Monarchs has created a website (www.youthformonarchs.org) complete with a guide for anyone interested in getting their youth groups into protecting and supporting monarchs.
In their new partnership with the MJV, Youth for Monarchs will continue to spread the word about monarchs and share doable solutions for youth to help mitigate the monarch decline. Congratulations and welcome to Youth for Monarchs as a new MJV partner!
The Monarch Joint Venture is a national partnership of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses and academic programs working together to conserve the monarch butterfly migration. The content in this article does not necessarily reflect the positions of all Monarch Joint Venture partners. Header photo by Susan Fox.