Once a year, Valentine’s day comes around. Establishments are embellished with red or pink ornaments; food are transformed to heart-shaped delights; and love songs are played in the background everywhere. People commemorate their love by giving gifts as a sign of appreciation to those whom play a significant role in their lives. Luckily for them, Ateneo Celadon has got them covered when it held its annual Rose Sale on February 9-13, 2016 at the Doghouse.

For the first couple of days, Rose Sale accepted pre-orders. Students lined up as they order from numerous items to give or deliver at the end of the week. There was a wide array of choices — roses, daisies, bouquets, red heart-shaped balloons and stuffed toys from Bear Huggs. Past years focused on selling individual flowers, but this year’s event broadened the items they were selling to cater to a wider audience. When a person buys, they can either get it from the booth or have it delivered by a volunteer.

The area around it was also flooded with people who wanted to take pictures in the photo booth courtesy of Contact Live Photography. Student pulled some great faces when having their pictures taken with their friends.

February 11 marked the start of the delivery of products. The whole thing was a systemized operation. There were people upfront handling the orders of the students. As they wrote down the details of each transaction, it will be handed over to the other volunteers who are in charge of assembling the items. For the people who opted for the flowers or bouquets, the volunteers had to assemble it just before they are to be delivered to ensure they are fresh. With the markings placed on each item, the other volunteers would then deliver them to different classrooms depending on the details given.

Thanks to the sponsors of the event, individuals who bought had the opportunity to win prizes through a raffle competition. Some of the prizes given were makeup products from Maybelline including lip balms, blushes and foundation, or gift certificates from White Space Mind and Body Welness Studio and Red Mango.

The deliveries were available until February 13, Saturday. Throughout the entire week, the volunteers worked non-stop just to make sure that the orders were completed. Because this was a special season for everyone, dedicated volunteers did everything they can to accomplish their assignment.

It was a crazy week filled with successes and challenges, but in the end, it was a great way to spread love to everyone. Nadine Kwan Laurel, one of the project heads, had this to say, “After almost a whole week of sleepless nights and missed meals, Celadon Rose Sale has finally come to an end. From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much to everyone who supported us and made this project turn out the way it did, and thank you very much to our sponsors Maybelline, Red Mango, White Space and Contact Live Photography, for helping us make this project a success!”.

Raenelle Ngo, another project head, said, “I’m very much thankful to the people who worked behind the scenes to make all this possible. To the EB, core members, committee heads, to our VP and AVP and especially to Nadine. There were difficulties leading up to this and stressful moments during the event itself, but because of these people, Rose Sale 2016 was a success.”

“The success of the project isn’t solely based on how grand it was or how much money it made, it was about leading and empowering your core, helping them be better individuals. I think both of the project heads executed that,” Aldwyn Tan, VP for Financial Affairs, said.

Irish Tolentino, AVP for Financial Affairs, seconded this. “Thank you to each and everyone who was part of and helped out in Rose Sale! You are all cupids in my heart. I hope you all enjoyed spreading the love as much as I did!” she adds.

Written by Mieko Ma

Photography by Zeina Renacia and Quimbe Dy