UNIVERSITY PARK – THON 2014, Penn State’s 42nd annual Dance Marathon, concluded its annual 46-hour THON Weekend today at the Bryce Jordan Center by raising raising a record-breaking $13,343,517.33 in the fight against pediatric cancer.
THON, the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, is a yearlong annual fundraising and awareness campaign for the fight against pediatric cancer.
All funds raised through the efforts of more than 15,000 Penn State student volunteers benefit the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. The Four Diamonds Fund assists children being treated for cancer and their families through superior care, comprehensive support and innovative research that impacts and improves cancer treatments around the world.
In addition, Penn State students host Four Diamonds Families during THON Weekend, held Feb. 21-23 this year at the Bryce Jordan Center, the annual celebration that caps the yearlong fundraising effort. THON Weekend gives children and their families who are fighting and have survived pediatric cancer the opportunity to take their minds off their health challenges, have fun, connect with other Four Diamonds families and enjoy Penn State students’ support.
The THON 2014 theme, “Redefine the Possibilities,” serves as a call to action, “a promise to each other and ourselves to create a better world,” according to the THON 2014 executive committee’s statement. “THON is, and always will be, an organization that overcomes challenges, defies stereotypes, and redefines its possibilities for the benefit of the children and families of the Four Diamonds Fund.”
Since 1977, THON has raised more than $114 million for the Four Diamonds Fund in the fight to conquer pediatric cancer. More information about THON is available at http://thon.orgonline.