Aggie Health club raises money for Shriners children’s hospital through candy grams sale
Aggie Health will sell candy grams Tuesday to raise money for the Salt Lake City branch of Shriners Hospitals for Children. Students, faculty and staff members can buy candy or soda and send it to others on campus, according to Kellie Shelton, a junior majoring in English technical writing and member of the Aggie Health organization.
“The dollar you spend goes directly to Shriners Hospital just before the holiday season,” Shelton said. “While it’s always nice to do service, I think it’s an especially good thing to remember during the holidays when so many people are sick or without loved ones.”
The club has sold candy grams each Wednesday for the past few weeks, but Tuesday will be the last day of sales, said Caleb Carroll, the club’s director and a junior majoring in political science.
Carroll said students who want to send candy grams should come to the group’s booth on Wednesday in the basement of the Taggart Student Center between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. to select which items they want to send.
“Soda is a dollar, or you can get two candies for a dollar or four candy canes for a dollar,” Carroll said. “Everything is a dollar.”
He said those who send the candy grams can include a personalized message with the item. The name and phone number of the recipient is given to Aggie Health, and the organization then sends a text message to the person receiving the candy gram, letting them know they can pick up the gift.
Those who have received text messages in the past few weeks but were unable to collect their item may do so any time on Tuesday, Carroll said. Nearly half of the candy grams that have been sent so far were sent anonymously.
“I’ve always had fun anonymously sending and receiving small gifts or notes,” Shelton said. “It’s an easy way to make someone’s day a bit more fun and helps me be more thankful for all the good people in my life.”
Brandon Woodward, a junior majoring in marketing, said he has enjoyed sending candy grams.
“It just makes people very happy,” Woodward said. “It makes your day. It can make other people’s day, and it just spreads Christmas cheer.”
Carroll said he has enjoyed this project because it benefits not only those in the hospital but also those who send and receive the candy grams. He said he hopes lots of students will get involved.
“Lots of people who go to college, we’ve had very blessed lives,” Carroll said. “We’ve identified a group of people who aren’t having the easiest times currently, and I think it’s important to help those less fortunate than we are. This fundraiser is a way to do it.”
Carroll said he hopes the fundraiser will expand in the future with more items and participation and become an annual event.
“Overall we’ll probably make about $350, which I think is good because it’s the first time we’ve ever done it,” Carroll said. “But I hope that future directors will continue to do it so we’ll make more money each year and people will become more aware.”