For the past several days, White Plaza has turned red and pink, crammed full of various organizations trying to cash in on Valentines Day. This year, fraternities, sororities, freshman dorms, special events committees and a capella groups made bids for consumers’ dollars, each offering a unique product or service.

Orange, too, made an appearance, as Theta and Sigma Chi joined forces to sell Crush Grams.

“Every week we cook and serve breakfast at the Urban Ministry Homeless Shelter in Palo Alto,” said senior Megan Shackelton, founder of the Crush Gram program. “The money raised through Crush Grams goes toward improving the quality of the food we serve, adding more variety and increasing the quantity so that everybody at the shelter can receive a full meal. It means a lot to all of the girls and I think the fact that we are directly involved with where the money is going and that many of us have formed personal connections with those at the shelter really helps to motivate the chapter to raise money through Crush Grams.”

The fundraiser involved selling bottles of Orange Crush with an attached note, and delivering to the crush’s door. The Thetas asked that the note not include the sender’s name, as it cost $1 to send the bottle, and $1 for the recipient to find out who the sender was. Or, the buyer could pay the full $2 and remain anonymous.

According to the sorority, a member of the Thetas transferred to Stanford from a school where Crush Grams were an established tradition. Last year, the sorority decided to try it on an experimental basis, and ended up selling 400 bottles of Crush. This year, business was even better, they said.

“This year we completely sold out in two and a half days,” said junior Mark Sherwood, a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. “That’s 600 Crush Grams, or 10 percent of all undergrads. Since it was such a success this year, we’ll definitely expand the fundraiser. It’s a great thing.”

“Based on [the fundraiser’s] tremendous popularity among students and faculty, we have decided to make it an annual tradition,” said Sigma Chi president Kunal Gullapalli. “It’s all about cooperation within the Greek community and serving the Stanford campus with a small but fun and delicious Valentine’s treat.”

The Stanford Undergraduate Psychology Association (SUPA) joined in the festivities by holding a silent auction from Feb. 5 through Feb. 12. The association asked local businesses to donate products and services to auction online. This year SUPA auctioned gift certificates for diamonds, massages, opera and theatre tickets — even a complimentary skydive. All were items that would potentially make a good Valentine’s Day gift.

“This is something we’ve been doing for a couple of years and it has been successful on campus,” said senior John Wang, SUPA silent auction coordinator. “It is a great way for local businesses to advertise to Stanford students and a great way for Stanford students to get great deals on local products. Plus, all the proceeds go to the local Huckleberry Youth Programs. This event is annual, so we would love support in upcoming years.”

This is the fifth time SUPA has held a Valentine’s Day silent auction, which has been online since its inception. Last year the event raised $1,775 for another local charity and SUPA hopes to provide that kind of support this year.

The Stanford Mendicants continued their annual tradition of “selling themselves” for money on Valentines Day. The a capella group hires out its services to various dorms and individuals throughout the holiday, from 6 a.m. to midnight. All members of the group are required to attend the gigs, even at the peril of class attendance. The dorm shows were sold for $150 and the individual serenades went for $30.

“The group decided that it would be a great idea to have a fundraiser in which we exploited our ‘boyish charm’ to spread the love of Valentine’s Day,” said Mendicants member Paul Mark Elizondo III, a junior. “It all began when a guy randomly asked a member of the Mendicants to have the group serenade his girlfriend on V-day, even when this tradition wasn’t formalized. So the group thought that it could be a huge tradition if they could get many to buy into it.”

The singing marathon yields about $1,000 dollars a year, which goes toward the group’s two main events during the remainder of the year — producing an album and subsidizing a spring tour which will include China, the East coast, New York and southern California.

“People tell me they love the idea that the Mendicants take such a huge part in V-day on this campus,” said Elizondo. “Many girls have come to me and told me that it would be their dream to be serenaded by the Mendicants. Many guys don’t realize how special it is to the girl being sung to. We receive positive responses from all the girls we serenade on the big day, and it’s an amazing feeling overall. Singing ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ 40 times in a row, not so fun, but overall, a great time.”

The Black Graduation Committee sold Valentine’ Day candy grams and rose grams. From White Plaza, the committee offered to deliver candy or silk roses for $2 and real roses for $3.

Not to be left out, Paloma sold roses, flower leis, and candy that were delivered door to door under the banner: “Get Leid on Valentine’s Day.”

“The proceeds go directly to dorm funds.... and starving children in Ethiopia; they’re all invited to our parties,” said freshman Paloma resident Erik Goldman. “The demand for our services has been pretty good. Especially [Monday] it picked up a lot. It’s hard to say how much money we made, but we’re already past $200. It’s too early to tell if this will continue next year, seeing as we won’t be living in Paloma. [Next year’s residents] might steal the idea though.”

All in all, the commercialization of Valentines Day isn’t so bad, students said.

“Everyone wins,” said Wang. “Students, local businesses, and charity.”