Community Profile

Pledge Status

Complete

Pledge Date

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Program Year

2024

Achievement

Signatories

2024

Links and Uploads

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Action Item Report

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Cheltenham Township

Elkins Park, PA

Matthew Areman

President, Board of Commissioners

Pledge Summary

Cheltenham Township is a first-ring suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a population of close to 38,000. Its 9-square-mile community boasts 23 parks and open spaces for residents and visitors to enjoy. Cheltenham Township adopted a Sustainability Plan in 2013, one of the goals of which is Ecological Stewardship. Cheltenham is taking the Monarch Pledge for the third year in 2024, with intent to add monarch and pollinator habitat in an additional Township park, and to continue educational efforts to drive community awareness of the importance of cultivating and preserving monarch habitat. The Township's efforts are buoyed by the partnership of community organizations and resident volunteers, including through the Cheltenham Township Library System, the Township's Environmental Advisory Council, and Friends parks groups.

Community Spotlight

Action Items Committed for 2024

Communications and Convening

  • Issue a proclamation to raise awareness about the decline of the monarch butterfly and the species’ need for habitat. This proclamation must incorporate a focus on monarch conservation.
  • Launch or maintain a public communication effort to encourage residents to plant monarch gardens at their homes or in their neighborhoods. (If you have community members who speak a language other than English, we encourage you to also communicate in that language; Champion Pledges must communicate in that language.)
  • Create a community art project to enhance and promote monarch and pollinator conservation as well as cultural awareness and recognition.

Program and Demonstration Gardens

  • Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.
  • Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.
  • Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar-producing plants in gardens in the community.
  • Host or support a monarch butterfly festival that is accessible to all residents in the community and promotes monarch and pollinator conservation, as well as cultural awareness and recognition.