The Mission of the Penn State Dance Marathon

The mission of the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon is to conquer pediatric cancer by providing outstanding emotional and financial support to the children, families, researchers, and staff of The Four Diamonds Fund.

• THON is fundraising over a year-long effort involving thousands of students and culminating in a challenging, 46-hour, no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon.
• THON is changing the lives of students and children, reinforcing the importance of caring for one another, and inspiring the determination needed to beat cancer.
• THON is helping to conquer pediatric cancer through strategic investments in hospital bills, research efforts, and a new family-centered Pediatric Cancer Pavilion at the Penn State Children?s Hospital.

The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, commonly referred to as THON, is a 46-hour Dance Marathon that takes place every February at the Pennsylvania State University with the purpose of raising money to combat childhood cancer. It was started in 1973 by the University's Interfraternity Council, and in its first year, more than $2,000 was raised, with 39 couples dancing for 30 hours straight. Today, it is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world with $9,563,016.09 having been raised at the 2011 event, pushing the overall money total since THON's inception to over $78 million. The money that is raised is donated to The Four Diamonds Fund, a charity devoted to defeating pediatric cancer through research and caring for patients at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center Children's Hospital. More than 15,000 students get involved in the event each year, organizing it and raising funds with the rallying cry, "FOR THE KIDS!".