Students at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus are breaking old records and setting new goals in raising money for children with cancer.
Mark Hofmann can be reached at mhofmanntribweb.com or 724-626-3539. Students at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus are breaking old records and setting new goals in raising money for children with cancer. The university’s charity is THON, a dance marathon held annually at the main campus in State College. The charity event benefits The Four Diamond Fund, established in 1972 to help families of cancer patients pay for any expenses not covered by insurance. THON is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, according to Penn State. In 1972, fraternity and sorority houses at the University Park campus decided to hold a 10-hour dance marathon for charity. The marathons evolved from dancing 10 hours to dancing 48 hours, and in all, they now have 15,000 student volunteers, 700 dancers, and have raised more than $52 million $6.6 million was raised last year alone.
The university also reaches out to its 19 satellites, and the Fayette campus has excelled, organizers say.