THON 2009

Hi All,

$7,490,133.87.

I have never been so proud as I am right now to be a student at Pennyslvania State University. No. It is not because we are Big Ten Football Champs, the best volleyball school in the nation, or because it is a good academic institution. I am proud because of that number. $7,490,133.87. That is how much money we raised this year for Pediatric Cancer at Penn State in our annual event, THON. A 46 hour straight, no sit, no sleeping dance marathon, 708 students vowed to give up their pillows for two days to help fight off cancer and save the lives of many children. I was one of over 15,000 student volunteers that helped with the event, I was a member of the finance committee. It was our job to count all $7,490,133.87 that was donated to us this year!

All of that money is donated to an organization affiliated with the Hershey Medical Center. The organization's name is the Four Diamonds Fund, a fund that was started over 30 years ago by a father who lost his son, Chris Millard, to cancer. The name, Four Diamonds, comes from a story that his son wrote during his battle with cancer about a knight named Sir Millard whose quest is to find the four diamonds of courage, honesty, strength, and wisdom. The four adjectives were what Chris felt were essential in battling cancer.

THON is an event that I will definitely remember. My committee has been at work for a few months waiting for this weekend to come and now it is over.

This weekend, my committee was on the floor where the dancers were for two four hour shifts. During this time, we met some of the dancers and motivated them to keep standing as well as some of the kids whose lives we helped save. It is truly one of the most memorable, humbling experiences of my life. We had the chance to have water gun fights and bounce a ball around with some of the kids!

Today, I was one of two people out of my 30 person committee that received the "incentive shift" for the final four hours of THON for working extremely hard throughout the year. This is the part that I will remember most about this weekend. For the final few hours, all 220 families in attendance that we "adopt"were introduced and invited on stage. Then, three of the families shared the stories of their child's battle with cancer. They were all very sad, yet uplifting as all the families had recently been told by their doctors that their child was "cancer free!"

After a few more hours, the grand total was announced. We were all expecting it to go down from the $6.6 million we raised last year due to the poor economic conditions. The entire crowd of over 18,000 roared when the final digit, a 7, was held up symbolizing the $7 million mark! It was amazing! When all was finished, we raised a grand total of $7,490,133.87 this year!

From now on, when I hear someone say that one person can't make a difference, I will turn to that person and say Chris Millard did. Chris Millard inspired his father to start a charity in his memory. Chris Millard inspires all 708 dancers to stand for 46 straight hours without sleeping! Chris Millard is just one person, but he made a HUGE difference in the lives of many over the past 30+ years. The fact of the matter is that we all can make a difference - each one of us that helped THON in one way or another significantly impacted a child's life for the better, by helping them beat cancer!

I would like to end with something that is very dear to all involved with THON. Instead of saying "Sincerely" or "Regards" at the end of a letter, we end with something a bit different, a battle cry that we use throughout the year at different events. FTK (For the Kids).

Always FTK,
Tracker

You can find more information on THON by going to www.THON.org
You can see some of the pictures that I took at THON this weekend by Clicking Here
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"One day, we will dance to celebrate!" - a sign I saw at THON this weekend

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hi All,

I hope you enjoyed your Valentine's Day and weekend! This weekend, I went home from Happy Valley to enjoy a weekend of beautiful skiing. Although the snow wasn't what it was, the skiing was still phenomenal. I made such an improvement in my skiing this weekend by finding edges on my skis that I did not know even existed! I am now skiing faster and better than I have ever skied before. I learned that I need to push my hips out further and more downhill to create a more effective edge. It felt great!

This weekend is a very big one at Penn State. This is THON weekend. For those of you who do not know what THON is, it is a student run fundraiser for pediatric cancer. Students go out around the Northeast four weekends to go "canning" at supermarkets or street corners. Also, students have a mass letter writing campaign to ask for donations from their friends and family. This weekend, we will be fulfilling a promise to all who donated money to THON by having over 700 students, or dancers, fill our basketball arena, the Bryce Jordan Center, by standing and dancing for 46 hours straight without any sleep breaks. While I am not a dancer, I am on the Finance Committee for THON which basically means that I am one of the people who counts all the money that is donated to us through cash, checks, or IOU's. I can't wait to see how much money we raise this year! Last year we raised $6,615,318.04!

I will definitely keep you posted on how that goes! I can't wait and my head is spinning with all the on-campus activities to help students prepare for the weekend!

Have a great week and let it snow!

- Tracker
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"When cancer is cured, we will dance for joy. Until then, we will dance for life." - Anonymous Dancer from THON

Congrats to our Special Olympians

Hi Again,

I just want to congratulate our Special Olympian Gold Medal winners! ASF sent Troy Desmond, Patrick Carroll, and Douglas Rogers to the New York State games at West Mountain where they swept the podium. Each of our racers raced on the Slalom and Giant Slalom courses in the intermediate and advanced divisions and took home two gold medals a piece! Congrats to Troy, Patrick, and Douglas!

I am heading back to Windham this weekend to go skiing (hopefully there is still snow)!

I will update again after the weekend!

LET IT SNOW! (We actually need it now!)

- Tracker
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"This is a fantastic opportunity for them.... They are really blossoming here because they are experiencing what freedom of the mind really is. They are experiencing the clothing, the weather, and learning about their health. It is a great opportunity for them to experience this feeling."
—Nasrullah Ibrahimzay, leader of the Special Olympics athletes competing from Afghanistan

Diana Golden Level 1 Race

Hi All,

What a weekend! This weekend, the Adaptive Sports Foundation hosted a Level 1 Race through Disabled Sports USA inspired by Diana Golden (the three time Olympic Gold Medalist who only had one leg). It was an amazing event as skiers and snowboarders with both, physical and cognitive, disabilities came together to race. Part of an entire race circuit, the Adaptive Sports Foundation hosts this race each year.

Every year, they bring in a guest clinician who gives a clinic on the Saturday preceding Sunday's race. The past two years Mau Thompson of Adaptive Adventures has given the clinic. While we did not have a race course to work with for the clinic, Mau made the best of it by having us perform different drills as we skied down beginner terrain with the hope of bettering our skiing.

I was able to work on my outrigger usage on Saturday, primarily keeping my elbow "fused" to the side of my body and extending the outrigger with the sole use of my forearm. This enabled me to become a more efficient skier by using better outrigger placement and allowing me to edge more effectively. I see improvement in my skiing already!

On Sunday, we raced on a course that NASTAR set up on skier's right of Wonderama. It was a very well designed course for the adaptive category as it was a giant slalom course that started out with wide gates that gradually got narrower towards the end of the course. This allowed the skier to keep their momentum and have a fast finish!

I had the best two runs in a true racing scenario that I have ever had, but I still have a lot of room for improvement. I need to start turning earlier so I can carry more momentum down the race course. Nevertheless, both of my factored times were just over 40 seconds.

I won the silver medal, something I am very proud of because this was my third Diana Golden race. The first time I raced I won the bronze and the second time I did not medal. In winning the silver medal, I am able to pat myself on the back because I realize that I am always improving!

Everybody did a great job this weekend and I cannot wait for next year's race!

On another note, Penn State's basketball team knocked off #9 Michigan State which significantly beefed up our resume for March Madness and the NCAA tournament! I hope/ cannot wait to see how crazy Happy Valley becomes!

- Tracker
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"Faster and faster until your love of speed overcomes your fear of death". - Anonymous