For the past couple of years, the band has organized Saxygrams. Usually, around this time, any student could go buy a Saxygram; a small card with a personalized note, the band would go around giving out the grams and playing the song “Careless Whisper” by George Michael. It was one of the biggest fundraisers for the program, but due to COVID, the band has decided to not do it this year. “We will not be doing the Saxygrams in the traditional sense this year. I think we will have a student play on the announcements but, I am not thinking it’s going to work out the way we usually do it,” the director of band, Brandon Kiesgen said. Now, everyone will enjoy the saxophone music, whether they receive a gram or not.

This year we will not have Saxygrams, but from StuGo they are doing candy grams being sold on Feb 8th and 10th, then delivering on the 12th. The idea came from StuGo’s student body president senior Miri Chan. “I actually came up with the idea the week before we launched it. I noticed that no one was advertising Saxygrams or Valentine grams which is a big part of the Valentine season at Perry,” Chan said. Not only is band unable to do Saxygrams, but clubs that normally sell candy grams are skipping this year due to COVID.

COVID and the safety of the student body is a concern for StuGo, and they are taking the necessary precautions in delivering the candy grams safely.  StuGo’s secretary Nathan Lam says; “The candies are pre-packaged and not made by us, so there will be no problem handing these out to students to celebrate Valentine’s day on our campus.” 

The money transfer on selling day will also be handled as safely as possible. Chan explains, “Once the students hand in cash, one StuGo member places it in the cash box which is then delivered to the bookstore to handle the money. There’s not a lot of people dealing with contact stuff so it’s essentially the same as the puma den or the bookstore.”

StuGo is hoping for a successful and safe fundraiser this year, but, whether or not candy grams will become a tradition, that is still uncertain. “We’re not sure if this will continue on just the same as we’re unsure of everything this year. We decided to host these grams since we know how hard it has been on clubs and fine arts to host events this year.” Chan continued, “I’ll be glad to see orchestra continue their Saxygrams and other clubs fundraise through Valentines grams so it’s up to the next year members of StuGo to decide.”

Saxygrams tends to be one of bands biggest fundraisers, but due to StuGo’s many fundraisers, they are able to give their proceeds from the candy grams to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. “JDRF is the current Arizona Student Government fundraising partner, and because of this we’re always trying to find innovative ways to not only promote spirit on our campus, but help this cause that extends nationally,” Lam explains. Due to the partnership with the Government board, we will see a few more fundraisers for the JDRF.

This year has been filled with constant surprises, and many changes, it will be nice to have a sense of normalcy on Valentine’s Day through StuGo’s actions.