Students Selling Their Hearts Out

Looking for an affordable alternative to a $50 bouquet of red roses for a Valentine’s Day gift? How about a handmade valentine decorated with hearts and a candy mint?

It’s yours for 10 cents, thanks to the Heart Grams program at Berylwood Elementary School. Thirty students will take orders today through Feb. 10. Three Heart Grams go for 25 cents and a dozen sell for a dollar.

Proceeds will go to the American Heart Assn. “We heard about a group that donated money so that a man could get a heart transplant,” said Candice Drake, 11, president of the school’s student council. “I thought it was wonderful. But he didn’t survive the transplant. We want to improve people’s chances for living.”

The group’s last venture, “Gobble Grams” at Thanksgiving, raised $174 to feed the homeless. Previous councils raised money for earthquake victims in Kobe, Japan, and to buy a new tricycle for the child-care center destroyed in the Oklahoma City bombing.

Teacher Pat O’Doul, who supervises council activities, said the school is donating the materials for the Heart Grams.