UPPER BURRELL, Pa. -- Penn State New Kensington students Brooke Churma and Alex Pedder are packed and ready for their trip this weekend, Feb. 20 to 22, to University Park for the 43rd edition of the annual Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon that benefits the Four Diamonds Fund and the fight against pediatric cancer. The students, chosen by the campus THON committee, headed by co-chairs Lea Long and Jadyn Perry, will represent the New Kensington campus.
The campus dancers join 700 Penn State students, from all Penn State campuses, who will stay on their feet for 46 hours to raise money for children with cancer. Since 1977, more than $114 million has been raised for the charity through the collective efforts of 15,000 student-volunteers. More than 3,000 families have been assisted by the Four Diamonds Fund at the Penn State Children's Hospital in Hershey.
THON begins at 6 p.m. Friday and continues until 4 p.m. Sunday. Events, such as a pep rally and fashion shows featuring Four Diamonds children, keep the dancers enthusiastic throughout the weekend. The final four hours include recognition of families battling childhood cancer and the unveiling of the fundraising total. A live webcast will be streamed throughout the event. To view the webcast, visit http://thon.org/Webcast.
Churma, a senior corporate communications major from Kiski Area High School, and Pedder, a sophomore mechanical engineering major from Hempfield Area High School, received a grand send-off Feb. 17 with a campus-wide “pot-luck’ dinner. The terpsichoreans needed to “carbo-load” and students, faculty and staff brought an assortment of pastas and other high-energy foods to help the pair keep pace with the weekend festivities. (In Greek mythology, Terpsichore was the muse of dancing.)
In addition to the send-off, the campus is supporting the dancers with about 50 students and friends who will travel to University Park, fill up the stands in the Jordan Center and provide an upbeat atmosphere throughout the marathon. Another group of campus students will lend support by making a day trip by bus on Saturday.
Perry, an elementary education major from Burrell High School, and Long, a sophomore business major from Apollo, will supervise the campus’s THON efforts. The co-chairs will develop and organize schedules and manage shifts and breaks.
So far, the New Kensington THON committee has raised more than $26,000, surpassing last year’s total of $24,000, fourth-best in campus history. The campus total is a secret until the final totals for all campuses are announced at the conclusion of the marathon. Since 2002, the campus has collected almost $284,000. A year ago, THON breached the 13 million dollar barrier, collecting a record $13.3 million. THON is believed to be the largest student-run philanthropy in the world.
Giving to THON can be made by visiting http://donate.thon.org/. (To credit Penn State New Kensington, donors should go to “General Organizations” and click the button that designates “New Kensington.”)
For more about the New Kensington THON efforts, contact Lauren Blum, student life coordinator, at 724-334-6063 or ldb14@psu.edu.
For more on THON, visit http://www.thon.org/.