THON raises $9,563,016.09 For The Kids this year

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Penn State is home to the largest student-run philanthropy in the world called The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (referred to as THON ).</p>

<p>It was started in 1973 by a small group of dedicated Penn State students who held the first Dance Marathon. That year, 39 dancer couples participated and raised $2,000. Since then, THON’s presence in the Penn State community has grown exponentially. THON now has 15,000 student volunteers, 700 dancers, and has raised more than $69 million, benefiting The Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital.</p>

<p>THON is now a year-long effort that raises funds and awareness for the fight against pediatric cancer and culminating into a 46 hour dance marathon. With the support of students from all across the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and THON Alumni all around the world.</p>

<p>Home</a> | THON.org - Conquering Childhood Cancer</p>

<p>YouTube</a> - Penn State THON 2011 Line Dance</p>

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<p>Nice. But you do know that a lot of schools now have a DM, right? (oh dear god the idea of calling it ‘thon’ makes me want to kill fluffy animals).</p>

<p>Also, Northwestern’s DM started 2 years later, in 1975.</p>

<p>The StL DM (hosted at WashU) raised $160,000 this year, so not nearly on the same scale by any means (but ours is only 16 or so years old). Also, most DM’s aren’t specifically pediatric cancer. I know ours goes to childrens miracle network of stl.</p>

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<p>I was theerrrreeee (I’ll also be over for State Patty’s).</p>

<p>@ Johnson: Why does calling it THON annoy you? Penn State’s is easily the largest of any similar organization’s in the world. It’s as big a part of Penn State culture as Joe Paterno is, and the buildup to THON is ridiculous. They definitely deserve to differentiate themselves from other similar DMs, because THON isn’t just another DM, it’s freaking THON. </p>

<p>Yeah, I had a blast. I have friends in Morale and one in Entertainment, and they all love it despite the 4am shifts. Totally worth not getting any sleep. Definitely one of the best experiences of my life. The excitement is just infectious. </p>

<p>Also, the 2011 line dance was great. Good job you guys.</p>

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<p>@Johnson181</p>

<p>I’m very fully and painfully aware that other schools have DMs that sound similar to THON but are not even remotefully comparable to us. Thank you :)</p>

<p>@AeroEngineer3141 </p>

<p>Yes, this years line dance is my favorite out of them all so far.</p>

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<p>Congrats to all at Penn State for this amazing achievement…!!! You should be proud of this undertaking!!</p>