THON

"We believe that by taking part in these services as Penn State students we can help better the environment by providing opportunities to students as well as community members."
- Penn State Rotaract Club Mission Statement

THON Background
  • The Penn State Dance Marathon (THON) is the world's largest student run philanthropy. THON is run entirely by Penn State students, and donates all proceeds to the Four Diamonds Fund the the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. This fund helps supports the fight against pediatric cancer but covering all medical costs and providing emotional support for the families of children afflicted with this disease, as well as providing millions to cancer research. Started in 1973, THON has raised over $61 million benefitting more than 2,000 families directly, and countless families elsewhere through research.
    Click here to go to Rotaract's page on THON.org, and to donate to THON on Rotaract's behalf.
  • This year the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon raised $7,838,054.36
  • This year the Penn State Rotaract Club contriubted $10,353.00 to THON's total
Family
  • This year Rotaract adopted the Billy Myers family. Billy is 16-years old, was recently diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing treatment. We were happy to meet Billy and his family for the first time at the Family Carnival, and are very excited to make new THON memories with them.
Rotaract in THON
  • This year's Fundraising Total: $10,353.00
  • 2009's Fundraising Total: $5,337.56
Activities
  • Capture the Flag Tournament
    October 3rd
    HUB lawn
    We riased over $300

  • First Canning Weekend
    October 23rd-25th
    Wayne, PA - hosted by Sandberg Family
    We raised over $2,700

  • Scrapbooking for Billy
    We made a scrapbook for Billy with each member of the club making their own page including some personal information and a picture. This way Billy and his family can get to know each of us just as well as we all get to know him. Pictures of this event can be found here.

  • Family Carnival
    November 1st @ White Building
    Carnival-event held for the families of the children supported by the Four Diamonds Fund. This was our first time to meet Billy and his family. Lots of fun pictures from the event can be found here.

  • THONveloping Party
    December 2nd @ Bee's Apartment
    Addressed THONvelopes (sample) to send to friends and family members

  • Second Canning Weekend
    December 4th-6th
    Wayne, PA - hosted by Broser Family
    We raised over $1,500.

  • Third Canning Weekend
    January 22nd-24th
    Pittsburgh, PA - hosted by Mehta Family

  • Fourth Canning Weekend
    February 12th-14th
    Pittsburgh, PA - hosted by Knox and Lederman Families

  • THON Weekend
    February 19th-21st
Documents
  • THONvelope Letter
    This is the letter to be sent to friends and family members when requesting donations for THON. Feel free to personalize the letter to your liking. Personalization and decoration of the envelope is strongly encouraged. Please email us if you wish to send a letter to a business or corporation as THON requests different information to be sent to these individuals.

Links