By: Ana Elmasllari, Lion’s Eye Staff Editor, ave5065@psu.edu
On Friday, January 16 at 6 p.m., the King family joined friends and family of Brandywine’s THON members for the first time at THON’s Annual Chance Auction in the Tomezsko Building. THON is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world that raises money for kids with cancer.
This year the King Family is Brandywine’s THON family. They have been a part of the Four Diamonds Fund since March 2014. The THON members tried to be calm and not overwhelm them when meeting their THON family for the first time. Mr. and Mrs. King walked in at the event very excited to meet their whole Thon Organization.
The King Family consists of 3 girls and twin boys. One of the boys, 10-year old Trevor, is a cancer survivor. He has been clear for about six months now but he is still going to Hershey Medical Center for checkups once a month. Trevor will be finishing treatment at Hershey Medical Center in the summer of 2015.
Students, faculty and the community wrapped many baskets together to auction off on Friday night. Everyone was excited to play and to win the beautifully crafted baskets. Each basket had its own unique and clever name. One of the baskets was filled with different Legos and the name of the basket was “Building Dreams.” The King family ended up winning a few of them.
Each year THON introduces a different theme and this year’s theme is Empower the Dreamers, which was the inspiration for each baskets name.The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, known as THON, is a yearlong effort to raise funds and awareness for the fight against pediatric cancer. THON has raised over $114 million for the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital since when it first started in 1977.
The year culminates with a 46-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon known as THON Weekend. This event is held at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center each year in the month of February. In 2014, THON raised a record-breaking $13.34 million and was able to donate 96% of funds raised directly to Four Diamonds. Visit THON’s official website, www.Thon.org to learn more about THON and/or donate.