Penn State Students Just Raised a Record $13.3 Million With an Epic Dance Marathon
If you think you were being productive over this weekend — well, the students at Penn State probably still beat you.
At their annual dance marathon this weekend, where participants had to stay on their feet for 46 straight hours, PSU students raised a record $13.34 million, with all the proceeds going to the Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital.
Since the dance was founded in 1977, the THON has raised over $100 million for pediatric cancer research and support for the patients' families. This is the tenth straight year that the fundraising has broken the previous record.
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The THON is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, and pairs students with pediatric cancer patients and their families to participate together. More than 15,000 students took part in the fundraising and around 3,500 volunteered to run the THON behind the scenes. Over 700 students took to the dance floor with the young participants.
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The THON.org website livestreamed the event online with a donation page for the event. On Saturday, the #THON14 hashtag was trending across the U.S., with 17 posts-per-minute across social media sites.
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The Penn State football team, along with new coach James Franklin, spent time with the patients and their families over the weekend. "I can't tell you how proud we are to be a part of this community now," Franklin said. "Trust me ... we are going to win a bunch of football games, but more importantly we're going to make a positive difference in this community."
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But it was not just all hard work for the students. Volunteers came up with fun ways for dancers to rest their feet, including piggyback rides, foot massages and floor slides. And there were some romantic celebrations as well: According to the THON Twitter, three couples at the event got engaged over the weekend.
Congratulations to all the participants for their huge success — we can't wait to see what they pull off next year.
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