Excited whispers of anticipation hum throughout the room as students wait for the telltale sign of Santa hats or reindeer antlers: Candygrams have arrived. Members of the Global Friendship club burst in, red bags bulging with candy canes sent from friends. Excitement reaches its peak as names are called, candy canes are tossed, and students discover who of their friends was thoughtful enough to send them a Candygram.
Maddie Melnick ’12 and Anya Rosen ’12, co-presidents of the Global Friendship club, came up with the idea of Candygrams last year. They were inspired by the well-known movie, Mean Girls, and decided to use Candygrams as a fundraiser to raise money for Save the Children.
“It’s sometimes difficult for clubs to think of innovative ways to raise money,” said Melnick. “In comparison to other projects we have done, such as bake sales and bracelet sales, Candygrams is by far the most successful.” Last year, the club raised around $2,000. This year, the club raised over $3,000.
A Global Friendship member, Zoey Altis ’14, says that the reason for its success is the general appeal of Candygrams. “It’s an inexpensive charity to contribute to, so if you want to give presents to multiple people, it’s not as expensive as going out and getting individual gifts,” she said. “Plus, the idea is from Mean Girls, so many students think it’s cool and want to participate.”
According to both Melnick and Rosen, the process of Candygrams has not changed that much from last year. During all three lunch waves, students have the opportunity to place their orders for Candygrams. In exchange for $5, students are given four cards to write down the name of the receiver, the receiver’s period three room number, and the name of the sender. Later on, members of the Global Friendship club will attach the cards onto candy canes.
However, this year there is one strict adjustment that the co-presidents made to ensure efficiency.
“One of the weaknesses last year was that we did not require everyone to write down the room number of the recipient,” said Melnick. “This made it difficult for us to sort through the Candygrams, because we had to inbox people on Facebook, ask their friends, and ask Ms. Addicks for the classes of many students.” With the new rule in place, Melnick predicts that sorting through Candygrams will be much less time consuming for the club.
Other than that, the club plans on continuing the Candygram tradition of personally delivering each candy cane wearing festive holiday accessories, such as Santa hats or reindeer antlers.
On Wednesday, Dec. 21 during period three, many students will receive a happy surprise.
“We enjoy the fact that Candygrams not only raise a large amount of money for Save the Children, but also brings the Staples community together around the holiday season,” said Rosen.
