Bearden clubs organize Valentine-themed fundraisers for students

As Valentine’s Day approaches, many of Bearden’s clubs are jumping into action to use the romantic season as a fun fundraiser or simply event theme. 

Virtual Enterprise and the National Art Honors Society, have partnered to make the most out of their Valentine’s Day fundraisers.

Like in previous years, NAHS members are working hard to create simple, one-layer Valentine’s cards that will be given to every student this Friday. New this year, however, the club has partnered with NeoTerra from Virtual Enterprise to sell Australian-themed, two-layer cards and envelopes. The proceeds from these will be donated to a charity that provides relief following the Australian wildfires.

“Since NeoTerra is a company centered around educating students about their environmental impact, the recent Australian wildfires were of great importance to us,” Rebecca Robinson, co-president of NAHS and member of VE said. “NAHS knew we wanted to donate our profits to a charity […] so the two groups came together.

“NAHS provides the artistic ability and NeoTerra provides the public relations and know-how.”

Both types of cards are created via printmaking, a process where designs are carved into linoleum, rolled over with ink, and then stamped to create a print. This process, which is not only fun for NAHS students to complete, also produces unique cards, so each is slightly different.

“As a club, [NAHS’] main goal is to provide an artist community for students,” Robinson said. “[While in Virtual Enterprise], the objective of [NeoTerra] is to teach students how they impact the environment through a video game our tech team hand-coded.

“These cards combine the core values of both clubs for a good cause.”

The NAHS and Virtual Enterprise collaboration cards will be sold for $1 per card on the 14th, and individuals can make donations to the charity the clubs have partnered with at https://www.wires.org.au. 

Although the window to sign up for other Valentine’s fundraisers has passed, SGA and the Creative Writing Club are continuing their traditions of Spoonful of Kisses and Crush for a Crush, respectively.

The Spoonful of Kisses tradition, which was started two years ago, is an incredibly simple, and free, way to show your friends you care about them during the Valentine’s season.

“We put some Hershey’s Kisses into a spoon, wrap it up with tulle, and tie it with twine,” freshman and SGA member Naomi Winn said. “Then, students fill out a sheet to let us know who they would like to send one to, that person’s second block, and a sweet message to the person.

“I think it’s a cool way to give back to our school, and who doesn’t love free chocolate?”

All the spoons will be delivered on Valentine’s Day to students’ second block classes.

The Creative Writing Club also brought back a Valentines tradition with their Crush for a Crush campaign.

“We sell Crush sodas for $1 each and the buyer fills out a slip of paper to tell us who to send the can to,” senior Joseph Knight said. “It could be to anyone: themselves, a friend, a crush, a teacher.”

The sodas are delivered during second period on the 14th, and the proceeds go toward funding to help the Creative Writing Club publish their annual Literary Magazine. 

“The magazine is a collection of written works like short stories, poems, and novel excerpts that are submitted by members of the club and regular Bearden students alike,” Knight said. “All of the works are based off of a theme that the club votes on at the start of the year; once published, the magazine is sold around school toward the end of April.”

Money raised from literary magazine sales goes back toward the Creative Writing Club so members can host fundraisers, poetry slams, and other fun events.