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“gy vO CE I
The Lion’s Eye
Eve on CAMPUS
March 1, 2004
The many stories of
THON
The contribution of Delco’s dancers and donors
By JENNIFER RUFO
Lion’s Eye staff writer
JLR397@psu.edu
Always Believing. That was the
theme of THON this year, from Feb. 20
to Feb. 22.
Rec Hall in University Park was the
place to be when THON, the largest
student-run organization in the world,
raised $3,547,715.48 for kids with can-
cer.
Penn State Delaware County was
well-represented with four dancers
and a total of more than $17,100
raised.
Pradeep Kulkarni, Kyle Potter, Ed
Rich and Kathleen Iaci represented the
pride of Penn State Delco and held
their own on the dance floor. Student
Life sent out the following message:
“Congratulations to our four
Delaware County THON dancers. All
four made it "48 hours, no standing, no
sleeping, no kidding." And an extra-spe-
cial congratulations to the whole THON
committee who raised (not including
pledge books) $17,100 for the Four
Diamonds Fund which earned Penn
[t goes far
beyond the
dancing
By GERRY DUNGAN
Special to the Lion’s Eye
More than 700 student dancers
boldly took to the floor and kept on
their feet for the grueling 48 hour
THON weekend. But during the entire
weekend and the months leading up to
THON, more than 1500 students, fami-
lies and supporters labored vigorously
in order to make THON the $3.5 mil-
lion champion for kids with cancer.
Why? They never gave up hope for
the kids.
The proceeds gathered by the annu-
al event go exclusively to the Four
Diamonds Fund, which allowed this
year's 702 dancers to sponsor more
than 350 children with cancer.
It is the largest student-run philan-
thropy in the entire world, and for
good reason: THON is that big of an
event.
Sam Leu is a part of Campus
Crusades, a religious organization and
one of the 230 participating private
organizations of THON. His group sup-
ported the weekend's event through an
unconventional method: Prayer.
"We do a 48-hour prayer, which we
pray every hour for all the dancers,
and of course, it is for the kids with
State Delaware County a second-place
showing among non-UP participants.
Congratulations you did Penn State
Delaware County Proud!”
Highlights at the dance included
performanc8@s by many different bands
and entertainment in the form of
games, singing, and, of course, the line
dance every hour. This year the lyrics
of the line dance touched on the films
“Finding Nemo” and “Matrix” and pop-
ular songs from the Yin Yang Twins.
Rich, a senior IST major and the
Delco co-chair of THON, said he was
most tired Saturday night into Sunday
morning.
"The place gets empty at night and
you really look forward to the next
day's events, like Mail Call,” he said.
“It helps keep the adrenaline flowing."
Morale leaders kept up the sprits of
the dancers by offering food, games
and prizes and jump rope. Their sup-
port helped everyone make it through
the 48 hours. Banners lined the walls
with supportive messages to dancers:
"Keep on Dancing, Keep on Believing"
and "The Floor is #1 in our Hearts."
The 42nd hour is known as Family
Photo by Anteia Consorto
Pradeep Kulkarni was one of the four
dancers to represent Penn State Delco.
cancer." Leu said.
And sometimes prayers do help
dreams come true. Ask Jeanette
Schreiber, a University Park senior and
a THON dancer for what she called, "a
small theater group on campus." But
more significantly, Jeanette was also a
former patient of the Four Diamonds
Fund.
Jeanette talked about how the
money raised for the Four Diamonds
Fund aided her with the payment of
the treatments to help beat her child-
hood cancer.
"It cost $3,000 for a little bottle of
pills," Schreiber said. "(They) even paid
for the gas that my parents had to use
to drive to and from Hershey.”
Hour, where the families of children
with cancer encourage the dancers.
"It's inspirational," said Rich. "It's
hard not to get emotional."
Penn State Delco students went to
State College to show their support for
THON. Jennifer O'Hara, a junior ele-
mentary education major, returned to
THON this year for the fun and the
kids.
"When I see so many Penn State
students come together for a common
cause that helps so many, it makes me
feel proud to be a Penn Stater."
Bob Gault, a sophomore in
American studies, said, "The ability of
so many to come together for a great
cause is truly touching and displays
the compassion people can show when
they come together for a common
goal."
Prior to THON weekend, the Delco
organizers held a successful Silent
Auction and Faculty Luncheon.
Highlights included haircuts and hair-
dos on staff members such as Gordon
Crompton, Jonathon Leonhard and Dr.
George Franz.
THON began in 1973 as a way for
Photo by Anteia Consorto
A couple of the children for whom THON
weekend is held take part in the festivi-
ties. Dancers say the presence of the
kids is inspiring.
the Interfraternity Council to rebuild
its image. Then-President Bill Lear pro-
posed a dance marathon to raise
money for a worthwhile cause. More
than $2,000 was made the first year.
For more information, go to
www.thon.org.
Heroes are everywhere:
Dancers, kids, Moralers
By ED RICH
Special to the Lion’s Eye
For the children battling cancer at
the Penn State Children's Hospital,
“carefree days” involve walking around
the courtyard with an IV walking
behind them. Their “carefree days”
involve being sick and losing their hair.
To them the world is not a perfect place
where there are no worries, except for
one magical weekend called THON.
At THON, the children get to be kids
again. They get to leave the IVs behind
and run around and play with the 700-
plus college students who are there for
them that weekend.
Even with the kids there, THON is a
hard time for the dancers involved. The
48 hours on their feet is a grueling test
of their strength, not to mention the
strain it puts on a dancer's mind. In
order to make it through THON, the
dancers need support. The people who
are there to support them are the
unsung heroes of the Dance Marathon.
Ask any dancer and he will tell you
that the kids who struggle with this dis-
ease every day are the heroes. They
teach us so much about life because
they are forced to grow up so quickly.
Even with all their troubles, they find
the time to run around, squirt the
dancers with water guns and smile. For
many families, THON is the first time
they have seen their kids smile since
Christmas.
Ask any Four Diamond Family and
they will tell you that the college stu-
dents dancing are the real heroes. The
college students who stand at intersec-
tions in the bitter cold of a
Pennsylvania winter, and the other
Northern states are the heroes. The
thousands of people who donate money
are the heroes. ;
Ask any dancer who was the biggest
help to them as they danced, and a
majority of them will say that the peo-
ple who are by their side or in the
stands cheering for them are the
biggest help. The Moralers, the count-
less people who send them “Dancer
Mail,” the children, the family members
who make the trip to State College to
cheer them on are the biggest help.
For the thousands of Penn State stu-
dents involved with THON, believing is
seeing. They believe there is a cure in
sight, that one day children will never
have to suffer with cancer, that soon,
100 percent of all kids diagnosed with
cancer will be cured. They do not need
to see the medical reports on cancer to
believe in a cure.
If you would like to get involved with
THON please contact me
(EIR102@psu.edu) or Kathleen Iaci
(KAI104@psu.edu).