Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, which means two things: couples are about to display a disturbing amount of PDA, and singles may remain bitter for a whole month. No matter if you plan on preaching or cursing love on Valentine’s Day, the holiday gives everyone a great excuse to buy themselves some seasonal goodies.
For those who wanted to do some retail therapy in preparation for Valentine’s Day, the Mucho Orgullo club’s Valentine’s Day jewelry fundraiser earlier this month offered the perfect place to shop.
The club was selling two types of bracelets, a pair of dangle earrings and a set of three studs. One bracelet featured clear beads and a small black or white heart; the other bracelet came in a range of colors and phrases, such as “Te Amo.”
The dangle earrings are designed to look like small envelopes with a heart stamp in the center, and the pack of studs are made up of three pairs of earrings in the shape of hearts available in red, black and white.
“My favorite piece of jewelry is the envelopes that have a heart stamp on them. They’re very cute, unique, and will make any outfit more fun,” senior club member Stefany Patino-Martinez said.
The club leaders decided to organize a Valentine’s Day Fundraiser after one of the club’s meetings. The Mucho Orgullo club leaders tend to stay after meetings in order to plan club days and future activities.
“We discussed fundraising ideas, and we realized that Valentine’s Day was coming up. What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than by gifting yourself or someone some cute jewelry?” Patino-Martinez said.
Students and faculty who patronized the club’s fundraiser will receive their jewelry after club members collaborate with a local jeweler to construct the commissioned pieces.
The club will be learning how to make jewelry from Yessenia Campos Franco, who owns a small Instagram jewelry business called Belens Beads (@belensbeads).
“I wouldn’t really consider Belen’s Beads a business yet, more like a hobby that started during the pandemic,” Campos Franco said. “I am a social worker by day, and my full-time job at the time was pretty stressful, so creating items helped me with my mental health, specifically my anxiety. I have always loved being creative.”
Franco learned about the Mucho Orgullo club from the club’s advisor Linda Martinez-Cervantes, who is Campos Franco’s childhood friend.
“We grew up together and are both Chapel Hill Carrboro City School [alumni],” Campos Franco said.
The jewelry the club was selling ranged from five to seven dollars with proceeds going towards materials the Mucho Orgullo club needs for future activities.
“Our club strives to be more educated on certain topics and advance our knowledge about our culture,” Patino-Martinez said. “All funds will go into helping us be able to provide more supplies to contribute to educational hands-on activities.”
Students could go about buying the jewelry by filling out a Google form in the Daily Roar or by speaking to the club’s faculty advisor Linda Martinez-Cervantes.
The Mucho Orgullo club plans to have another fundraiser in April, when they will be holding graduation photoshoots.
“Things are going very smoothly so far! The Mucho Orgullo team is very good at cranking out ideas, but especially good at executing them,” Diaz Rhi said.
