Free Conservation Expo At Stagg High School This Saturday

PALOS, IL -- Stagg High School is hosting ConEx, a free conservation expo for community members on Saturday, January 12 . This expo for all ages will showcase the great beauty that lies within our natural surroundings. More than 40 local organizations- including the Brookfield Zoo and the Shedd Aquarium- will set up information tables in the Stagg gymnasium from noon to 4 p.m. . There will be arts and craft activities, a variety of local food and craft vendors, science activities, presentations, and live animals! It's sure to be a fun event for the whole family.

ConEx was planned under the direction of Peter Gordan, the Stagg High School student and resident of Palos Park who founded Homes4Monarchs, a non-profit working to save the rapidly declining monarch population in the Chicagoland area. The organization's mission is to distribute free packets of milkweed seeds to local residents, businesses, and public institutions. Farmers' increased use of pesticides throughout the American Midwest has been extremely harmful to the butterfly species, as well as the milkweed plant, which is their only source of food.

In the 2018-19 season, with help from hundreds of volunteers, Homes4Monarchs has already packaged and is currently distributing more than 15,000 milkweed seed packets around the community, free of charge. So many volunteers RSVP'd for the July seed packaging event they had to move it to a larger facility! You can pickup the free seed packets at your local train station, public library, or from the Plush Horse in Palos Park.

Peter and his team created ConEx in order to expand their work beyond the realm of monarch butterflies. "I want the public to know is that conservation is not simply about saving forests or wildlife. It is a complex, interconnected effort that spans all members of our community. Seemingly-unrelated topics like nature protection, community sustainability, and human health all form the definition of conservation, and all of those topics will be represented at ConEx. With all these amazing free resources, this really is the perfect way to spend a Saturday. So tell your friends, tell your family, and come to ConEx! Everyone is welcome!," Gordan noted in a press release.

For more information about the expo, you can contact Peter Gordan via email. For live social media updates, you can follow @Homes4Monarchs on Instagram and Twitter, and add Peter on Facebook. ConEx flyers (in English, Spanish, Polish, and Arabic) are available here.