Valentine's Day Candygram

Love is for family and friends

Do you love your family? Do you love playing sports with your brothers, sisters, or friends? Do you love it when someone helps you? Let them know by sending them a candygram! If you would like to let the person know, come to the reception from 14 to 19 February. Valentine’s Day steps:

1. Pick up a card

2. Write the full name of the person you appreciate

3. Write a message to that person

4. Put it in the box

5. The person receives the card and a candy

Background

Valentine's Day carries a lot of negative connotation in Morocco. It is viewed as a day promoting promiscuity and immoral sexual relations in defiance of God. Despite this, many shops in Morocco decorate with red hearts and hold special Valentines Day sales. As an association viewed as an American presence in Morocco, celebrating Valentine's Day while avoiding the negative connotations is a tricky path.

I took the idea of candygrams from my, ironically, Catholic high school. Students would donate to the community service fund, fill out a card, and the card would be delivered with either a rose or candy (depending upon the year) to the receiver during class. The focus was on supporting community service projects, sending cards, and getting candy; there was no mention of sex or romance.

We took a similar approach for our annual event. Being a cultural event to teach students about American culture, the event is completely free. We setup a table with everything students will need. Instructions are posted on the wall to explain what to do. Model Valentines cards with messages like "I love how you always play soccer with me" and "I love when you make cake, mommy" are displayed to help people write messages to let family and friends know they're loved. Blank cards are set out for anyone to fill out and a box to deposit them.

The person to whom the card is addressed must be one of our students because it is the only way we can deliver the card but anyone can fill one out. Cards can be filled throughout the week that has Valentine's Day

Our Community Service Club goes through the cards to remove anything inappropriate or offensive, set aside dead letters (no addressee), and attach a lollipop to each card. Someone from staff then delivers the cards over the next week. Dead letters are kept for a month to allow the sender to claim them and add the addressee so they can be delivered.

Our Valentine's Candygram event has been a success every year since it started in 2019 and there have been no complaints or comments about inappropriateness. The only problem we've had has been children trying to sneak the extra candy.