Dance team set to participate in fund-raiser
A team of dancers from Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, will travel to University Park for a weekend of dancing to raise money for pediatric cancer. In its 35th anniversary, the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon 2007, or THON, unites student dance teams from Penn State campuses across the state for 46 hours of straight dancing, with no sitting or sleeping.
A culminating event of several months worth of fund-raising activity, this year’s THON will be held Feb. 16, 17 and 18 in the Bryce Jordan Center, home to Big Ten basketball and concerts from top-name music performers.
Dancers of teams from campuses across the state will assemble inside the Bryce Jordan Center, which seats 13,000 people. And, local team members predict there won’t be a problem filling those seats.
They said Penn State alumni as well as friends and family members of dancers and the children who benefit from fund-raising attend the event, which is open to the public.
Agreeing to dance for 46 hours are local students Jonathan Wik, Ellen Rogers, Ashley Gumbert, Hilary Griffith, Bobby Durany and Tom Smith.
Some of the first-year dancers said they became involved after watching last year’s dance marathon on the Internet.
“I wanted to be there this year,” said Durany.
Rogers, a sophomore at Penn State Fayette, said the most difficult task in preparing for the event is staying away from caffeine. Students also are advised to exercise and to sleep as much as they can before the event since each student has to stay awake for 46 hours.
This is Gumbert’s second year participating in THON.
A big motivating factor for the team, she said, is the fight to take first place back. Last year, Penn State Fayette’s team placed second for the highest fund-raising total among all the commonwealth campuses. It missed the mark by only $2,000.
Where the team racks up among others across the state will be revealed on the last day of the dance marathon at the main university.
“We want first place back,” said the sophomore student.
“We’re ready for the challenge,” added Griffith.
But, to reach that goal, it takes more than just dancing.
The student dancers, for example, spent hours braving the cold during recent winter weekends to go canning or to collect money from area residents at various locations, including the Connellsville Wal-Mart and the Connellsville Shop ‘n Save.
Combining canning with T-shirt sales area businesses purchased printed advertisements for, the six student dancers alone raised $10,000.
Penn State Fayette’s THON team has surpassed last year’s fund-raising goal and are well on their way to reach this year’s goal of $40,000, said Penn State Fayette THON Chairwoman Amanda Newell.
The fund-raising total for the local campus will be announced at a Feb. 15 alumni dinner according to Chad Long, THON team adviser and assistant director to Student Affairs.
Though surviving the cold took a toll on her patience, Griffith, a junior at the campus, said she can’t wait for the upcoming dance marathon.
“Everyone talks about how much fun they have at THON and I’m real excited to experience that,” Griffith said.
Lauded as the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, the dance marathon benefits The Four Diamonds Fund, Conquering Childhood Cancer, at the Penn State Children’s Hospital in Hershey.
Over the past 34 years, the students of THON have raised more than $41 million and have helped thousands of children and families fight pediatric cancer.
The children and their families attend the dance marathon every year to keep the dancers motivated. Every team has a child they sponsor, which makes their fund-raising efforts even more important.
Rogers said meeting the children who benefit from the their work is definitely an incentive to keep the dancers moving.
“These kids are the coolest people,” said Rogers.
Added Gumbert, “All the families are so nice and treat you like you’re the world, and the kids definitely keep you going.”
The money students raise touches the lives of hundreds of families every year through superior care, comprehensive support and innovative research at Penn State Children’s Hospital, according to the THON Web site.
The continued hard work and success also brings Penn State even closer to fulfilling its $10 million pledge for the creation of the new Pediatric Cancer Pavilion at Penn State Children’s Hospital, which is located on Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center campus, according to the Web site.
The doors of the Bryce Jordan Center will open to the public at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16. For more information on events or to learn more about donating, visit online at www.thon.org
.