THON, is a two day Dance Marathon that takes place every February (yes you guessed it, it was this past weekend) at the Pennsylvania State University to raise money to find a cure for pediatric cancer. THON is now the largest student run philanthropy in the world. It was started in 1973 and raised a bit more than $2,000. 39 pairs danced for 30 hours straight. It was a dance competition and the winning pair won $300. The money raised went to help mentally retarded children. THON changed philanthropies every year until the relationship with The Four Diamonds Fund began in 1977 and has continued ever since. The Four Diamonds Fund is a charity devoted to the care of patients at the Hershey Medical Center. People from all kinds of organizations at Penn State and the Four Diamonds families gather for the celebration of their fight to find a cure for Pediatric Cancer. In 1992 THON broke the $1 million mark with a total of $1,141,145. This year, THON had another 708 Penn State students danced in THON and raised $10,686,925.83 for the kids. Watch as people go nuts when the total is revealed.
THON is an experiece like no other, and I won’t even try to explain how amazing it is. Just go, and check it out one day. That’s the only way you’ll really know what it’s all about. This video can just begin to show you the magic that is THON…
