Feb. 14 has come and gone, and that means all the chocolate at your local drug store is now half off. Some call it a Hallmark holiday created to make a quick buck, and others use it as a day to let the people in their lives know how much they care or don’t care about them.

This day did not fly by the Mercyhurst community, and many of the organizations on campus celebrated the spirit of Valentine’s Day to the fullest.
For many RSCOs, the day was a chance to advance their mission.

The Mercyhurst University Physics Club sold carnations on Feb. 13 and 14 to raise money for physics display instruments. The Physics Club is looking to raise enough money to purchase “gadgets” that will aid their middle school demonstrations where they visit local grade schools to show experiments and run workshops.

The Honors Program hosted a service event on Feb. 13 making handmade Valentine’s Day cards to donate to the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Home in Erie.

Senior Biology major Emily Pacer, president of the Honors Council, was very excited to use this event to connect service with the day.
“This is a great way to spread the love and give back to our community. As honors students, we strive to engage in academics, leadership and service. This event will help build our honors community here on campus as well as bring some joy to our veterans,” Pacer said.

The Hospitality department also got into the holiday spirit on Feb. 13 by selling cupcakes, mugs, candy grams and blankets in the CAE. They then sent out emails for the recipients that received candy grams on Valentine’s Day so they could personally pick them up.

One of the students behind this event was Elizabeth McGreevy, junior Hospitality Management major.
McGreevy said that “all of the proceeds go to help our HMA/PCMA club for us to be able to go to the National Restaurant Show in Chicago in May.”

The Student Alliance for Prison Reform also sold doughnuts to raise funds.

Instead of overindulging themselves with cheesy romcoms and writing poems to Valentine’s crushes, these clubs on campus were celebrating this Valentine’s Day by advancing the mission of their organizations and benefiting their community.