$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
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