As the month of February begins, many clubs and classes have showcased their loving spirit by creating Valentine’s Day fundraisers. Many people think of chocolates or teddy bears at the thought of Valentine's Day but one class has continued to differ from the rest with their fundraiser. Despite challenges, the MHS band continues to work hard on its annual Carnation Sale.
The sale was hosted outside of the cafeterias from February 5th to the 9th. During these days band members advertised throughout all lunch periods, taking preorders for carnations. The band has been ordering the carnations from a local Malden business called “Martin’s Flowers.”
This fundraiser has been something that the band has done for many years and is continuing the tradition. “We’ve been doing it for a few years at least throughout me and Brianna [Morales]’s high school experiences. It used to be roses but we changed to carnations since they last longer and who wouldn’t want flowers to last longer,” said senior band member Marianne Rivadeneira.
Unlike other holidays such as Christmas or Thanksgiving the Band noticed how Valentine’s Day was often overlooked. They took advantage of the lack of competition during this time and set up their big fundraiser. “We’ve noticed in past years, no one really did much things for Valentine’s Day sales. So it’s been a huge fundraiser for us and our band program,” Rivadeneira added.
The money raised through this event will contribute to the band’s development by allowing them to repair broken instruments as well as buy newer ones. Band member Sean Retotal also mentioned how some of the funds will go towards transportation for the class’s field trips, to different competitions such as MICCA coming up in April. “These fundraisers are very important for us because they help make the band better by adding more instruments and fixing the ones we have,” band member Addison McWayne emphasized.
Due to an increase in competition during Valentine's Day this year, the band has just sold over 100 carnations, compared to last year when they had sold around 200. “I think it’s because lots of more people are selling things jumping onto that Valentine’s Day idea. So we’ve had a lot of competition, which has made it a little harder,” stated Rivadeneira. Senior band member Briana Morales added, “Also not every student works so it’s hard to afford it sometimes.”
Although this year’s fundraiser was a bit slower than last years, Lauren Foley, the instrumental music teacher at MHS and the conductor/supervisor of the band, mentioned a few things she thought went well. “I think having a Cash App and Venmo is really helpful because like who carries cash anymore? So that definitely helped. I also think that the setup for people to order them was really easy,” Foley expressed.
The MHS band very excitedly delivered the carnations on February 14th and hopes to continue to gain support from students. They can be reached via Instagram @goldentornadoband; they host a variety of fundraisers and concerts year round.
