FAQ

What is a Singing Valentine (SV)?

The Singing Valentine (SV) goes like this: an acapella quartet dresses up in uniform, and drives from place to place singing for each sweetheart on their list, typically a wife, mother or intimate friend. They arrive at the appointed location, and look for the person receiving the SV. Since most of these are meant as surprises, this may mean checking in with an insider organizing the surprise, especially if it's a place of work. They walk in, declare that they have a message from the one who loves them and sing a love song or two. Then they might offer some other little Valentine token (flower, candy, greeting card), take a photo, if requested to, and deliver a personal message from the sender

How do Singing Valentines look and sound?

You can find videos of Valentine quartets on the internet, for example:

• Off the Hook - typical barbershop SV delivery

• Chelsea Parade - less talented, but lots of heart

• Golden Crescent - ad hoc quartet put together from chorus members

• Des Moines register - a men's quartet sing for a man at work

• Red Bank quartet - newscaster follows a SV quartet, really shows how it touches lives

WhO ARE the Barbershop Harmony VOLUNTEERS?

The  Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS), is a fellowship of men and women who like to sing. BHS is a grassroots organization, with most of the real activity occurring in the local chapters. The BHS parent organization sponsors conventions, contests, and training programs, and provides services for the chapters like liability insurance, marketing and outreach. We also partner with women-only barbershop harmony organizations Sweet Adelines and Harmony Inc.

Each chapter is organized as a separate charitable corporation with its own leadership and program. For many chapters this includes a singing Valentine program that is primarily used as a fundraiser. The Military Singing Valentine team reaches out to these chapters, and quartets associated with them, to draft the volunteers who deliver the Singing Valentines as a courtesy for the U.S. service members' service. 

How does the SV offer work?

The sponsoring non-profit organization presents to the active service person a voucher, explaining the free singing valentine offer and how to put in a request for one. This entails identifying the location (zip code) of their sweetheart and contact info, which can be a trusted third party, to make arrangements for the event. The request will then be routed to a barbershop organization in that location, who will get back to determine:

• who will receive the SV (a nickname will suffice)

• the exact location (workplace, home, restaurant, etc) where the quartet should go

• a phone number for someone to call if there are problems or questions (especially important when the SV is intended to be a surprise)

• any extras the local group may provide for free, such as a red rose, greeting card, or photo/video of the event

• in no event will the quartet or any participating organization save or share any private identity information, photos, or recordings with anyone, except as specifically requested by a principal party (serviceman, sweetheart or trusted third party)

Who qualifies for the SV offer?

While the barbershop society supports all past and current military, our numbers are modest, so we have elected to restrict the offer to the following:

• active military service members

• OR retired/veteran service members disable in duty

• INCLUDING their spouses

• WHO ARE associated with or selected by one of our nonprofit charitable sponsors

We have limited resources, so demand for Valentines in certain areas may exceed our capabilities. In that case we will do what we can to honor the offer, which may include:

• Sending the singing Valentine on a phone call or web meeting.

• Offering a priority reservation for the next year's Valentine season. 

HOW IS THE IN PERSON SV ARRANGED?

Our system is designed to ensure security and privacy for the military family. When the SV is requested the sender identifies a secure contact, who becomes responsible for setting up the Valentine delivery. That contact point is most often him/herself, but might instead be a friend, relative or co-worker of the sweetheart who will receive the SV. Once the SV has been assigned to a quartet, the quartet leader reaches out to the contact to work out the exact time and place for this mini celebration.

What else could happen in the Valentine's delivery?

This is a live performance, usually involving strangers, in many environments, so the delivery could take many different paths. Here are some things we often see happen:

• It's not unusual for a partner to break out in tears

• Singing a love song in the workplace, work friends tease their friend receiving the SV, but showing obvious envy, wishing their own sweetheart had done that for them

• A guy receiving a SV may seem a bit startled, like they're the butt of some joke, but usually they get into the feel of it and appreciate their own sweetheart giving them something different for a change

• The voices aren't always competition-level perfect, but the harmony always rings and the smiles and sincerity of the singers comes across

• Sometimes a military spouse will want to chat with the quartet afterwards, sharing their appreciation for the gesture, talking about the faraway sweetheart or sharing cookies

• Often the Valentine recipient will call in children, parents or friends to share the experience

• Most want to have a picture or a video of the event

• Youtube shows mostly SV quartets composed of old white men, but there are thousands of barbershoppers of all ages and races, and many women's or mixed gender quartets

What could go wrong with the SV?

Problems and changes can always arise, especially with all volunteer efforts, but we are doing our best to manage them.  For example,

• the SV quartet could be delayed or incapacitated by disease, a snowstorm. a family issue or such; in these cases the local chapter finds substitutes, kicks in a backup plan and calls the SVs local contact to reschedule

• the local organization may not have an available quartet to service the request; in that case, we'll try neighboring chapters and as a backup option offer to deliver the SV remotely via web conference call. Despite this, it's inevitable that a few requests will have to be declined

• the project could get overwhelmed with requests that exceed the capacity of volunteer quartets; we'll do our best to fulfill as many as possible, but if we must decline, we'll put the request on a priority list for the next year.

Whatever may happen, we can rely on the determination and experience of the people involved. Both BHS and the sponsor organizations are proven strong supporters of the military and highly motivated to push through any problem, to do their part to repay, in a small way, our debt to those who sacrifice for us. Given 50+ years experience in most chapters of orchestrating SVs it makes for a pretty effective delivery team.

How is the program financed?

No money or goods are exchanged by any party. On the delivery side, the organizers, dispatchers and the actual SV singers are all volunteers, paid only by the smiles and tears they get when they sing. We expect our charitable service sponsors to manage the distribution of vouchers and tracking of the program with their existing staff and general fund.

Why would a charity want to partner with Military Singing Valentines?

Simply put, if a militarily focused charity agrees with us that we owe a debt to these service men and women, it's one way to partially repay that debt. The choice is made easier by the fact that nearly all the logistics and volunteer resources are provided on our side, so the sponsor's resource commitment is small. If the charity's mission includes morale for military families, this is a simple way to promote that result.

How does a charity become a Military Singing Valentine sponsor?

In order to register as a sponsor in this program, an organization must:

1. be a registered nonprofit charity specializing in support of the military

2. assign a liaison contact to interface with the program

Sponsors agree to the following responsibilities:

• collaborate with Military SV on the content of the offer Voucher

• agree to protect the privacy of military members and their families

• actively distribute the SV vouchers to qualified military individuals

• agree not to use the program for direct fundraising

In addition, Sponsors may opt to take on additional responsibilities, such as scheduling, following up with the families and/or using the program for marketing purposes.

Which charities sponsor this program?

We are restricting distribution of the free SV vouchers to charities dedicated to active military service members and disabled veterans. We expect them to make an effort to ensure that the offer is extended only to qualified military persons. Any qualified non-profit charitable organization that meets these standards is welcome as a sponsor.

Current sponsors are:

Semper Fi & America's Fund

Armed Forces YMCA

Missouri Veterans Home (3 locations)

Travis Mills Foundation

Blue Star Families

In appreciation, could I give the quartet a tip or donate to the cause?

The program forbids any donations to the Military Singing Valentine program or any participating quartets, but there are other ways you can show your appreciation:

1. Send a thank you to the military support nonprofit who sponsored this Valentine , with or without a donation. 

2. Each quartet belongs to a local chapter and also the Barbershop Harmony Society. Both are nonprofits that use donations to promote singing as a healthy, community activity.

3. There's no restriction on offering refreshments to the quartet. They're having a busy day and a nourishment break might be welcome.

What is the scope of the project?

Starting in 2025, the scope will be limited mainly by the ability of sponsors to spread the word and the availability of quartets. The BHS has over 600 chapters worldwide, with nearly 1500 registered quartets. Including ad hoc and unregistered quartets and affiliated barbershop groups around the world we believe we could schedule tens of thousands of military SV gigs world wide. That means tens of thousands of sweethearts receiving this message of love from the service person they love, support and miss. Our target for 2025 is 100 delivered singing valentines, but we will work hard to gear up if the demand exceeds that.

How is the Military Singing Valentine project organized?

The MIlitary SV Project core is a small group of volunteers who manage communications and logistics by consensus. It is not incorporated and not a registered charity, although all volunteers so far are members of the Barbershop Harmony Society. The volunteer singers may be members of another harmony association or independent. Their only connection with the program is that they may be asked to volunteer for a particular SV. We keep lists of past volunteers organized geographically and generally call them first for deliveries in their area, but many new volunteers are found each year.

What are the obligations of the sponsor charity organizations?

Our aim is to keep the burden on our sponsors very small, so there is no need for them to adjust their budget plans or other priorities. Here is the minimal expectation:

• agree to our privacy standards, i.e. to protect the identity and security of the military service members and their families

• work with the Military SV team to draft the gift voucher they will distribute

• distribute those vouchers to qualified military service members or veterans

If the sponsor chooses they can take on additional efforts:

• communicate with the SV quartet to add value to the event

• form a relationship with their local BHS chapter to partner in other events

• follow up directly with the sender or receiver of the SV regarding their experience

• get agreement from the sender or receiver to use photos or videos in their own publicity

• share information about the program with their own sponsors and donors

Note that the BHS volunteer quartets are honor bound to share no information about the SV without explicit approval of the sender or receiver.

WHAT IS THE MILITARY SV GUIDANCE TEAM?

The Guidance Team is an informal group of advisors who suggest strategies and tactics for the voluonteers. They champion the program within their own community circles. Like the rest of us, they get no compensation and contribute at their own discretion.

Where can the Singing Valentine be delivered?

The answer to this is "almost anywhere" but the most common locations are at home, at work or at some public place such as a restaurant. The quartet will usually be arriving by car, so it may be helpful to provide suggestions for parking. If there is security at the location, they'll need to know how to gain entrance or whom to call for entry. If the SV is a surprise, the sender may provide hints for how to proceed.

We often deliver Valentines on Military Bases, but these require more preparation to ensure access.  If the sender can't arrange for gate passes we may need to work with the SV Sponsor or someone else on base to arrange access.

Is this offer restricted geographically?

There are barbershop harmony chapters in forty nine states and at least ten other countries, so our reach is pretty broad.

Unfortunately delivery depends on the availability of a quartet, and if the location is very remote it may be impossible to schedule local volunteers. In that event we generally offer the option of a remote Singing Valentine delivered via phone or internet.

What privacy and security controls are taken for service members and their families?

The security of our military is taken very seriously by everyone involved in the Military SV program. All players are required to pledge that they will ask for the bare minimum of information required to schedule the SV, and that they will neither retain nor share any data or media, except as explicitly agreed by the military family. Our dispatchers will be trained to work with local contacts to find meeting places for the SV that are safe and relatively anonymous.