WALLA WALLA — Valentine’s Day can be a difficult holiday for those who are struggling, particularly for the women and children at the YWCA who have been displaced by domestic violence.

Whitman students gathered Wednesday night to make valentines in an effort to help the YWCA.

The card-making party is a fundraiser dreamed up two years ago by professor Mare Blocker, who teaches printmaking and book arts. While serving on the board of review for Whitman’s Panhellenic Association, Blocker was struck by the amount of philanthropic events in which the fraternities and sororities participated. Blocker, who also served as an adviser to the Fine Arts House, wondered why the interest houses didn’t organize charitable events.