A Drop…
THON 2025…
For 52 years, Penn State students have danced for the kids. The THON motto:
For 52 years, Penn State students have danced for the kids. The THON motto:
One Day we will Dance in Celebration
Until then we will Dance for a Cure
Until then we will Dance for a Cure
In 1973, students on Main Campus Penn State organized a 30-hour dance marathon to fight childhood cancer. They gathered in the ballroom of the main student union for an event that raised $2,000. The success of that first event inspired a 48-hour dance marathon in 1974. In 2007, the event was cut down to 46 hours to accommodate the Big Ten Basketball‘s Sunday night game. That accommodation to Penn State’s sports engine did not impact the growth of THON’s popularity. The dance marathon outgrew the HUB and moved to the White building, then to Rec Hall, and 50 years later, THON now strains the capacity of the Bryce Jordan Center. This year, 700 students danced for a cure, supported by over 16,500 students across all the PSU campuses, who worked all year to raise funds. THON is the world’s largest student-run philanthropy, raising over $236 million since 1973 to fight childhood cancer. THON 2025 raised a recordbreaking $17.7 million, surpassing 2024 by over $780,000.
The money raised during THON supports Four Diamonds at the Penn State Children’s Hospital in Hershey, PA, funding pediatric cancer research and providing support to patients and families. THON fundraising ensures that families never see a medical bill or face the financial burden that cancer can bring. THON also creates a network of relationships, linking children to PSU students, forming life-long bonds of love and support. Penn State students are determined to stand strong for children who cannot stand on their own… for families who are struggling… for lives that cancer is trying to break.
The statistics are impressive, the efforts commendable, the energy THON generates across the PSU campuses electric, yet, one has to wonder if these efforts are merely a drop in the bucket when battling childhood cancer. After 52 years and $236 million raised, children are still suffering and dying from the scourge of cancer. Are we fools to put so much energy into fighting such a resilient foe? Every year, PSU students respond to that daunting challenge with a zealous determination to win the battle one child at a time. On THON’s website are stories of children saved, and lives changed. Calli- diagnosed with glioblastoma- loved music therapy during her treatment. She is now cancer free. Alex’s friends faded away as she fought her cancer battle- they said it was ‘too hard to watch.’ But then THON connected Alex to the PSU equestrian team who called, texted, sent postcards, and when she could receive visits, they showed up at Hershey. Brady is now a student at Penn State. He said, “I wanted to go to the university that saved my life.” Each story-a child touched by a drop- demonstrating that those drops fall not in a bucket, but in a pool, creating ripples that grow ring upon ring touching lives: McKenna, Noah, Dominique, Ally, Colby…
And it is not just the children who are changed by those drops. For half a century, Penn State students have been moved and shaped by their participation in THON. I remember cheering my brother as he danced in 1979 and 1980 in the White gym. Kayla King danced in the pandemic THON in 2021. Many of our LVC Penn State students have worked tirelessly to raise funds. And some of us alumni have been donating since our college days. Each dance step and dollar donated is a choice to move from helpless to hopeful. One student commented: “THON is more than just a weekend; it’s a lifestyle that brings us together.” One drop at a time… ring upon ring upon ring… lives forever changed as the battle for the cure rages on.
Sunday, four generations of Lenape Valley shared our own ‘dance’ event to combat childhood hunger. From babes-in-arms to our people in their 90’s, we served together to pack 25,000 meals. Those meals will feed children in schools in 3rd world countries. They say: Feed someone a fish- he will eat for a day. Teach someone to fish- he will eat for a lifetime. But what if we feed someone a fish while we teach him to fish. Then he will eat today and for a lifetime! That’s the Rise Against Hunger model. By 11:30am Sunday morning, our children were ringing the gong 25 times to celebrate 25,000 meals. What an auspicious goal! Yet like cancer, those meals seem like a drop in the bucket when faced with childhood hunger. Over 350 million children face hunger every day. What will 25,000 meals do in the face of such a daunting reality? Rise reminds us that those 25,000 meals will encourage thousands of families to send their child to school. The battle against poverty and hunger is won one child at a time, one family at a time, one school at a time.
Our meals are not a drop in a bucket, but a drop that will cause ripples extending for years to come. Those of us privileged to dance on Sunday will be forever changed by that opportunity to share God’s plenty with His little ones. And our children, who are growing up in a selfish, me-centered world, saw on Sunday what God’s grace-full people can accomplish. You may wonder what those drops and ripples can do in the face of the tempest stirring the waters these days. If we measured our efforts against the storm that is raging around us, we could easily lose hope. Yet, our offering on Sunday is in the hands of the One who can do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”
With you, dancing to Amazing Grace!
Anita
The money raised during THON supports Four Diamonds at the Penn State Children’s Hospital in Hershey, PA, funding pediatric cancer research and providing support to patients and families. THON fundraising ensures that families never see a medical bill or face the financial burden that cancer can bring. THON also creates a network of relationships, linking children to PSU students, forming life-long bonds of love and support. Penn State students are determined to stand strong for children who cannot stand on their own… for families who are struggling… for lives that cancer is trying to break.
The statistics are impressive, the efforts commendable, the energy THON generates across the PSU campuses electric, yet, one has to wonder if these efforts are merely a drop in the bucket when battling childhood cancer. After 52 years and $236 million raised, children are still suffering and dying from the scourge of cancer. Are we fools to put so much energy into fighting such a resilient foe? Every year, PSU students respond to that daunting challenge with a zealous determination to win the battle one child at a time. On THON’s website are stories of children saved, and lives changed. Calli- diagnosed with glioblastoma- loved music therapy during her treatment. She is now cancer free. Alex’s friends faded away as she fought her cancer battle- they said it was ‘too hard to watch.’ But then THON connected Alex to the PSU equestrian team who called, texted, sent postcards, and when she could receive visits, they showed up at Hershey. Brady is now a student at Penn State. He said, “I wanted to go to the university that saved my life.” Each story-a child touched by a drop- demonstrating that those drops fall not in a bucket, but in a pool, creating ripples that grow ring upon ring touching lives: McKenna, Noah, Dominique, Ally, Colby…
And it is not just the children who are changed by those drops. For half a century, Penn State students have been moved and shaped by their participation in THON. I remember cheering my brother as he danced in 1979 and 1980 in the White gym. Kayla King danced in the pandemic THON in 2021. Many of our LVC Penn State students have worked tirelessly to raise funds. And some of us alumni have been donating since our college days. Each dance step and dollar donated is a choice to move from helpless to hopeful. One student commented: “THON is more than just a weekend; it’s a lifestyle that brings us together.” One drop at a time… ring upon ring upon ring… lives forever changed as the battle for the cure rages on.
Sunday, four generations of Lenape Valley shared our own ‘dance’ event to combat childhood hunger. From babes-in-arms to our people in their 90’s, we served together to pack 25,000 meals. Those meals will feed children in schools in 3rd world countries. They say: Feed someone a fish- he will eat for a day. Teach someone to fish- he will eat for a lifetime. But what if we feed someone a fish while we teach him to fish. Then he will eat today and for a lifetime! That’s the Rise Against Hunger model. By 11:30am Sunday morning, our children were ringing the gong 25 times to celebrate 25,000 meals. What an auspicious goal! Yet like cancer, those meals seem like a drop in the bucket when faced with childhood hunger. Over 350 million children face hunger every day. What will 25,000 meals do in the face of such a daunting reality? Rise reminds us that those 25,000 meals will encourage thousands of families to send their child to school. The battle against poverty and hunger is won one child at a time, one family at a time, one school at a time.
Our meals are not a drop in a bucket, but a drop that will cause ripples extending for years to come. Those of us privileged to dance on Sunday will be forever changed by that opportunity to share God’s plenty with His little ones. And our children, who are growing up in a selfish, me-centered world, saw on Sunday what God’s grace-full people can accomplish. You may wonder what those drops and ripples can do in the face of the tempest stirring the waters these days. If we measured our efforts against the storm that is raging around us, we could easily lose hope. Yet, our offering on Sunday is in the hands of the One who can do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”
With you, dancing to Amazing Grace!
Anita
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