In celebration of Valentine’s Day, the University of Rhode Island Cape Verdean Students Association held its first “Roses Speak Louder than Words” fundraiser in front of the Memorial Union.
From Feb. 5 to 8, members of the organization sold roses to URI students to be picked up or delivered to a friend, significant other or themselves.
Angelina Gomes, fourth-year, is the fundraising chair for the CVSA. She came up with the idea by considering what something that everyone might like to receive around this time of year could be.
“I wanted something different from the typical selling candy and candy grams that most organizations do around Valentine’s [Day],” Gomes said.
The goal of the fundraiser was not only to promote romantic love but also to promote platonic, familial and self-love.
“The inspiration behind the title of ‘Roses Speak Louder than Words’ was the knowledge that not everyone can find the words to say they appreciate someone, but a rose, just a simple gesture, could show it instead,” Gomes said.
Lucas Furtado is a third-year student at URI and the vice president of CVSA. He joined other members of the club and stood outside of the Union and sold flowers.
“We’ve done really well, surpassed expectations, and are getting a lot of sales,” Furtado said.
Gomes said that she believes this will go on to become an annual fundraiser for the organization. In the future, she hopes the e-board will consider adding another “excitement factor” to set their fundraiser apart in some way.
“We had an amazing response and turnout, better than we anticipated even,” Gomes said. “We made a great profit, and some people were even happy to make donations for those who may not have had cash to buy someone else a flower.”
Going forward, there are a few things that the CVSA plans to use the money for, including a trip to the Cape Verdean Museum, in Pawtucket, for members, Gomes said. Overall, the money will be going back into the organization to fund events for members. Another event that this fundraiser will help fund is CVSA week.
“CVSA week is comprised of multiple events that are fun, interactive and centered in the culture,” Gomes said.
The event takes place over four days and has many different themes. The event kicks off with an alumni event. Details of this event are still being worked out by members of the e-board. The next night will be Cape Verde night where the e-board is trying to organize an escape room for URI students to participate in.
CVSA week also has an evening called “Pastels and Pasada” which combines the traditional food of pastels with a lesson that will teach participants how to do the traditional dance called pasada.
To wrap up the week, the e-board is organizing a seven versus seven football game that will be open to anyone in the URI community. This event is set to take place in April, Furtado said.
For interested members, CVSA meets on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in the Hardge Forum in the Multicultural Student Services Center.