By Lucy Ruscitto | Staff Writer
Baylor’s business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi will be putting on their first Valentine’s Day Rose Delivery Fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday in the atrium of the Foster School of Business, and on Wednesday and Thursday in front of the Rosenbalm Fountain.
Baylor Alpha Kappa Psi also plans to donate at least 10 to 20% of the total proceeds from the Valentine’s Day Rose Delivery Fundraiser to the Waco Humane Society.
Bloomington, Ill. sophomore Melissa Reiss is this year’s Fundraising Chair for Alpha Kappa Psi. She said a huge reason the fundraiser is not only being hosted in the business school is because the fraternity is trying to promote themselves in hopes of gaining new members from all corners of campus.
“We’re trying to hit different target groups with this fundraiser,” Reiss said.
Alpha Kappa Psi will be taking orders this week, a week before Valentine’s Day, and deliver roses to the address listed when the order is taken with a short note. Individual roses cost $5, and those who buy three roses will get one for free.
“If the receiver isn’t home, we will tie [the rose] to the doorknob,” Reiss said.
After a lot of investigation, Reiss decided that based on price and quality, she will be attaining the roses from H.E.B.’s floral department. They will be picked up the day before Valentine’s Day for freshness.
Andrew Cornes is the current Vice President of Membership and President Elect of Alpha Kappa Psi, and graduated from Baylor last December.
“Our vision statement is to be the premier developer of business leaders,” Cornes said. “We recruit all majors, but we try and teach personal skills to our members to help bridge the gap between what we learned in class and what you need to know for the workforce.”
Cornes said that he agrees he would like for this fundraiser to attract new awareness to Alpha Kappa Psi. He also said that if the fundraiser this year is successful, he would love to see it become Baylor Alpha Kappa Psi’s annual “flagship” fundraiser.
Part of the Alpha Kappa Psi brotherhood is the service aspect, and both Cornes and Reiss said that donating part of the total amount raised is important to them and core values of the organization.
The organization’s main fundraiser had been planned to take place during second semester, which led her to the idea of basing the fundraiser around a holiday.
“I was trying to think of something that first of all, didn’t really have a chance of loss. Something where we can take orders beforehand without spending a lot of upfront money,” Reiss said. “And I stumbled across some kind of like flower fundraiser idea [when I was researching],” Reiss said. “I landed upon like a rose delivery fundraiser where students will place an order for sending a rose to either their friends or their boyfriend or girlfriend.”
