A high school staple and decades-old tradition, Valentine’s Day grams can probably be found in almost every high school. Every year around Valentine’s Day, the ASB holds a fundraiser for Arcadia High School. Students can either be the sender or recipient of a Valentine’s gram, where they receive a carnation and a small note from the gifter on Valentine’s Day.

“Obviously because of COVID, [ASB couldn’t do Valentine’s grams] and delivering flowers are more hectic and [the flowers] would wither faster, so this year Prom Committee and Sophomore Council decided to recreate this valentine gram by selling teddy bears instead,” said Sophomore Senator Isabella Lo.

In place of ASB’s usual fundraiser, they decided to hold an event called “Teddy Bear Grams” this year.

“Since everything is virtual, we wanted to have an event that would bring smiles and comfort to our friends by giving these little gifts,” said Isabella.

The “teddy bear bundle” will include a teddy bear, candy, and a virtual gram. It was available for purchase for $3 and orders were open from Jan. 25 to 31. To distribute the teddy bears, the recipient of the gram will pick up their package.

“Also this year, we thought the Valentine’s Day gram would be appropriate and raise money for prom on that prom will still happen,” said Sophomore Secretary Shannon Cheng.

Usually, the proceeds of regular Valentine’s grams go to future bonding events. The profits of the “Teddy Bear Grams” fundraiser will go toward this year’s prom, if it happens. “The proceeds will stay within our council if prom is canceled,” Shannon said, though as of now it is going to prom entirely.

The grams are not just a good way of supporting the prom committee and helping the prom budget; like Isabella said, it can be a good way to comfort friends and let them know that they are being appreciated on Valentine’s Day, since other ways—such as buying birthday grams and birthday marquee messages—may not be available at this time or, in the case of a marquee message, may not be seen by the recipients. Because the people receiving the Valentine’s grams will need to pick up their teddy bear package, senders can have an almost sure shot of reaching their friends on a day dedicated to celebrating love.

Graphic courtesy of ASB Sophomore Council