On November 15, Colonia High School held their first ever Mini-THON. Mr.Chester, a science teacher at Colonia High, presented this idea to the Principal Mr.Pace. From there, Chester gathered students to organize the event. Mr.Chester said that he helped work on the Mini-THON at another school. He said, “it’s fun to do, it’s fun for the kids, it’s a great cause and I am passionate about it.”
The Event
The event was open to anyone with a $5 ticket purchase at the door or by wearing a Mini-THON T-Shirt for $12. For $15, you could be more than just a participant but a dancer. This required you to stay on your feet for all 6 hours and got you free food and a T-Shirt. At the event, there were various activities throughout the night. Outdoor games such as corn hole, spike ball, and can jam were set up to be played whenever. Some other games were giant Jenga, a big connect four, human hungry hippos, freeze dance, and a Zumba instructor. There was snacks, beverages, dinner and dessert. They were also selling cotton candy and popcorn, provided by Maglione’s Italian Ices.
Four Diamonds
All of the Mini-THON events that schools host are all coordinated through Four Diamonds. Over 265 schools and more than 90,000 student volunteers come together for this great cause to cure pediatric cancer. During the 2018-2019 school year, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools raised over 7.2 million dollars for Four Diamonds. The money raised goes to Penn State Health Children’s Hospital to continue research for a cure to childhood cancer.
An 11-year-old boy, Christopher Millard battled cancer for 3 years and before his fight ended in 1969, he wrote a story about a Knight who had the four diamonds of courage, wisdom, honesty, and strength. Christopher’s parents, Charles and Irma founded Four Diamonds in honor of their son in 1972, and to help other families and children fight against childhood cancer. Four Diamonds partners with Penn State Health Hospital in 1977 to continue comprehensive support and innovative research. Today, Four Diamonds has helped over 4,000 children and families and supports a platform for childhood cancer research at Penn State Children’s Hospital.
Penn State THON
A student-run event at Penn State called THON is filled with people who are committed to improving the lives of children and families who have been impacted by childhood cancer. The mission is to spread awareness, raise money to find a cure and provide emotional and financial support. It is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, raising around 168 million dollars, helping thousands of families, and having 16,500 student volunteers. Their mission and motto is “For the Kids” or FTK for short.
Final Results
At the end of the Mini-THON, they showed the grand total of how much they made through all of the ticket and merchandise sales. For the first year, Mr. Chester and everyone who volunteered to help, were very satisfied and impressed with how much they made. Overall, they made a grand total of $6,238.66. They had one final meeting to wrap up this years Mini-THON and to discuss some improvements they can make for next year.
