­Students can make a Valentine’s Day gift for themselves or for others and experience cultural diversity at the 2018 “Stuff-a-Bear” hosted by the University Board.

“Stuff-a-Bear” is set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday in the University Ballroom of Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Sienna Mark, special events coordinator for the University Board, said the UB wanted to give students a fun activity to brighten up their week.

“Students will be able to come and make a cute little friend to keep for themselves or give as a Valentine’s Day gift,” Mark said. “We will also be promoting the importance of cultural diversity by having a Chocolate Around the World portion of the event.”

The Chocolate Around the World part of “Stuff-a-Bear” will feature chocolate from eight different countries: Belgium, Germany, Mexico, Canada, the U.S., Ireland, Switzerland and France.

“We wanted to have the Chocolate Around the World portion to teach students about the different countries so they can learn about diversity,” Mark said. “We figured since most students will use their bears for Valentine’s Day, we should incorporate chocolate as a sweet treat for them to have as well.”

Tess McArthy, the UB ideas and issues coordinator, said this type of activity is geared toward bringing entertaining activities to students.

An outside company will be providing the bears and stuffing.

“Students can pick the animal they want and they get to stuff it themselves,” McArthy said. “It is nice, because then you can choose how stuffed you want your animal to be.”

Kaylee Fuller, the UB’s cultural arts coordinator, said this is her first year working at “Stuff-a-Bear.”

“I really hope that it will bring out a lot of students, because we want them to have a fun time and get something to take home with them,” Fuller said.

Fuller said “Stuff-a-Bear” has been popular in the past and draws out quite a large number of students.

“We strongly encourage students to show up before 11 (a.m.),” Fuller said. “We usually have such a large number of students come through because of the fact that this event is so popular that we end up running out of the stuffing to make the bears.”

Andrew Paisley can be reached at 581-2812 or at abpaisley@eiu.edu.