It's happened every year for the last 36 years. And the greatest event that I have ever been to (or will ever be to) is about to start once again. Penn State's Dance Marathon, best known simply as THON, officially gets underway at 6PM tonight and lasts until 4PM Sunday evening. Over 700 "dancers" will forgo sleeping and won't sit for the next 46 hours. In addition to those 700+ brave soulds, there will be an additional 10,000 students staffing the Bryce Jordan Center to make sure the vent runs smoothly and everyone is safe and secure.
THON is the culmination of a years worth of work for the Hershey Medical Center, specifically The Four Diamonds Fund, to conquer childhood cancer. Last year THON raised $6,615,318.04 FOR THE KIDS. In it's 36 year history over $50 million has gone towards pediatric cancer research.
It is an event that everyone should experience at least once. It saddens Kelly and I deeply that we won't be there this year, supporting the College of EMS dancers and all of the wonderful children and their families. It is the first THON I've missed in 5 years. It will be the last one I miss.
Check out these awesome YouTube videos for more. You won't regret it.
To all those involved this weekend: GOOD LUCK. Keep up the fight. Do it for the kids. Dream Forward.
To watch the event LIVE, click here. For a visual history of THON through the years, click here. To donate, visit THON.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment