THON Raises Over $10 Million For The Kids

posted February 19, 2019 in THON 2019 by Steph Krane.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Bryce Jordan Center once again turned into a 46 hour dance marathon this past weekend. More specifically, what usually serves as Penn State’s basketball arena became the home of the 42th annual IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, the culmination of a year-long fundraising effort in the fight against childhood cancer.

THON 2019 began at 6 p.m. Friday evening, when the 707 dancers on the floor got on their feet, not to sleep or sit down again until 4 p.m. Sunday, including Dancer Cara May Perrotti.

“Cancer’s touched my life in a lot of ways, particularly through one of my best friends,” Perrotti said. “Whenever I’m at THON, I think about the fact that I’m [here] so no one has to lose their best friend.”

While the dancers were on their feet, the Bryce Jordan Center was full of energy and excitement. Highlights of the weekend included performances by singer Andy Grammer and former Walmart yodeler Mason Ramsey. Saturday night’s pep rally, always a crowd favorite, brought out various Penn State sports teams to strut their stuff on stage. Men’s gymnastics took home the pep rally crown for the third consecutive year. 

Another highlight of the weekend was the annual line dance, which was performed 46 times throughout the weekend by THON Dancer Relations captains.
All of this culminated in the reveal of the final fundraising total. In all, THON raised $10,621,683.76 from the time the fundraising window opened in September up until Sunday.

Following the reveal, THON Executive Director Kelly McCready said student volunteers did a great job raising money for Four Diamonds, the charity that assists families at Hershey Medical Center both financially and emotionally.

“It’s amazing to see what we can accomplish,” McCready said. “We couldn’t be more proud of what the students accomplished.”

 

 

Steph Krane is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. You can reach her at smk6150@psu.edu.