Singing Valentines: Spreading Love through Song

A singing tradition by the Baptist Collegiate Ministries has helped spread love throughout Georgia Southern’s campus and the Statesboro community for about 20 years.

According to Jerry Johnson, senior campus minister, the BCM is one of the largest and oldest, active organizations on campus, and they have been around for over 70 years. They are known for one of their most loving traditions, the Singing Valentine.

Throughout the year, the ministers and students gather stuffed teddy bears, chocolate candies, and balloons, and for the price of $25, the BCM sends out the gift with a song to a loved one.

According to Emily Seiler, a senior Logistics, and Marketing major BCM student, it’s exciting to see the smiles on the people’s faces when delivering Singing Valentines. They get a lot of confused looks and sometimes gift receivers even end up crying.

The money that the organization collects for these Singing Valentines go towards an organization called SendMeNow. Singing Valentines and a host of other fundraisers help send students across the state and the country to take part in mission projects.

This summer, the BCM plans on sending about 140 summer missionaries from across the state to places like Brazil and California, and SendMeNow will be taking care of their expenses.

“Our role here at the BCM as a missions council is to get people involved in missions fundraising such as Singing Valentines, and all the money from the different fundraisers we do go to SendMeNow, so these students won’t have to pay to go on these missions trips.” Laurel Oizer, Vice President of Missions, said.

Singing Valentines has created many memories, and the ministers and students at the BCM look forward to building much more. These special deliveries take place from Feb. 10 and will continue until Feb. 14.

“It’s a lot of fun, and it brings a lot of joy and encouragement to people.” Donna Blackburn, Minister at the BCM, said. “That’s what it’s all about, is making someone’s day, letting people know that people care about them, that they are loved, and that they are someone special.”