The LSU Staff Senate candy gram sale hopes to help students through dead week and finals by providing a sweet treat.
The Senate is selling candy grams for $2. Those ordering can pick from Skittles, M&M’s, Hershey’s bars and Snickers, along with an encouraging note, Staff Senate president Tammy Millican said.
Orders are being taken until Thursday. Candy grams will be delivered April 25 to students and April 29 to faculty and staff.
“This would just be a way to encourage and have a little fun with faculty and staff and students,” Millican said. “Having something delivered to you, a candy bar with a little note to it, seems like a good idea.”
This will be the third time Staff Senate has sold candy grams. The proceeds from the sales go toward Staff Senate’s Fee Support Scholarship fund, Lynn Livingston, former Staff Senate president who brought up the idea, said.
The Fee Support Scholarship, created in 2006, aids University staff members who are pursuing a degree from the main campus. The scholarship covers one three-hour graduate or undergraduate level course for the fall or spring semester, according to the LSU Staff Senate website.
In its first year, Staff Senate sold 314 candy grams, Livingston said. Now, Staff Senate typically sells around 400-500 candy grams, with sales increasing each year. Purchases come mostly from faculty and staff, but the number of student purchases is increasing as more students find out about them, Millican said.
The idea of selling candy grams originally came from a United Way of America fundraiser held by Residential Life. The idea worked well within Residential Life and seemed like it would be easy to transition to Staff Senate, Livingston said.
“It was successful, it was easy, it brought a lot of smiles to folks’ faces,” Livingston said.
Associate Vice President for Accounting Services Donna Torres has bought candy grams every time they have gone on sale and has bought more than $200 worth over the years. Torres said she buys them for her staff, other units that her department works with and for people around campus she works with regularly as a thank you for being part of the team.
“It’s just nice to get a surprise in your inbox that you know someone appreciates what you do,” Torres said. “I know I love when I get them.”