Attendees of the Friends Enrichment Program’s monarch butterfly workshop release the butterflies to begin their 2,000 mile journey south.
The Friends Enrichment Program (FEP) of Moorestown Friends Monthly Meeting held its monarch butterfly workshop last month.
FEP is a Quaker-based volunteer program that provides scholarships and life-enhancing activities to disadvantaged Moorestown children. Since it was founded in 1997, the program has raised more than $400,000 and given out more than 1,200 scholarships to more than 500 children.
Presenter Glenn Curtis brought live monarch butterfly eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises and 15 adult butterflies. He also brought trifolds with photographs showing monarch butterflies in action, and various butterfly-themed decorations to help bring his presentation to life.
The room was adorned with posters and information about the FEP program and all it has done to help children and families over the years.
Curtis is an environmentalist and a monarch butterfly enthusiast who works for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. He has presented annual monarch butterfly workshops for FEP since 2017. This year, he discussed the life cycle of monarch butterflies, their migration, their importance as pollinators, the threats they face today and what people can do to make a difference.
Curtis called on children in the audience, some of them dressed for the occasion in monarch butterfly costumes, to reenact the life cycle of monarch butterflies using caterpillar and butterfly props. For the grand finale, participants released the monarch butterflies to begin their 2,000 mile journey south.
To learn more about the Friends Enrichment Program and what its offers, visit https://moorestownfriendsmeeting.org/friends-enrichment-program-fep/.
