Valentine’s Day is almost here. At Tahoma, that means spirit days and the yearly fundraising promotion.

However, students may have noticed that this year is different. The “Crush your Crush” tradition, which involved selling Orange Crush soda to be delivered to another student, is no longer occurring.

In its place, FCCLA (the group that put on Crush your Crush) began a new “Link your Love” sale. It is quite similar to Crush your Crush, except that it sells bracelets instead of soda.

FCCLA advisor Laura Hall explained why the promotion was changed. According to Hall, new federal regulations on school food health state that “you can’t sell high sugar items in the school day”.

These regulations came into effect after February of last year, so the FCCLA was able to get one last year of Crush your Crush in before the new rules took force.

While the change may be jarring for some, Hall says that she hasn’t “really seen a huge reaction”. According to her, “sales for the bracelets are still doing pretty well”.

FCCLA member Caitlin Devine, who sold bracelets at the Link your Love counter, supported these ideas. In her experience, there has been a “mostly positive” reaction to the new promotion.

Some may wonder how the FCCLA group settled on bracelets as their item of choice for the new promotion. According to Devine, there are several reasons. 

First of all, they’re fun. The bracelets carry custom messages depending on who a student wants to send it to.

Second, the bracelets are easy to make. Unlike a store-bought can of Orange Crush, Link your Love bracelets are handmade by FCCLA members to celebrate the Valentine’s season.

Finally, they are “easier to pass around to people”, according to Devine. The in-class delivery system was one of the main selling points of Crush your Crush, and the Link your Love campaign has kept this element alive and well.

Link your Love bracelet sales lasted from Monday to Thursday the week before Valentine’s Day. Bracelets will be delivered on Friday, Feb. 13.