WOW! Penn State Dance Marathon Tops ALL!

PENN STATE DANCE MARATHON 2010 LOVE BELONGS HERE
Thon raises record $7.8 million

By Ed Mahon

Despite a national recession that has hampered giving to many charities, Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon raised $7,838,054.36 to help families fighting pediatric cancer.

“I’m a little in shock about the number. ... I couldn’t believe we did it,” overall chairwoman Caitlin Zankowski, a 22-year-old industrial engineering major from Pittsburgh, said in a news conference afterward.

Zankowski choked up as she revealed the total at 4:15 p.m. Sunday in front of a cheering crowd of about 16,000 inside the Bryce Jordan Center. In response, the crowd chanted “FTK” - short for “For the Kids.”

The announcement capped off the 46-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon and a year of fundraising.

“You rose above it all. It’s just fantastic,” Charles Millard told Zankowski during the news conference.

In 1972, Charles and Irma Millard founded The Four Diamonds Fund in memory of their son, Christopher, who died of cancer at the age of 14. Since Thon organizers partnered with the fund in 1977, they’ve raised about $69 million to support pediatric cancer research and have covered expenses for about 2,000 families with children being treated at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital.

Zankowski credited hard work from volunteers, committee members and students organizations for the increase over last year’s $7.49 million total.

“No matter what the state of the economy is ... students love this and families need us,” she said.

Thon continued to grow in ways aside from its bottom line. More than 100,000 people watched the Thon webcast during the weekend compared with 10,000 last year. At one point early Sunday afternoon, Thon was the third most common phrase appearing in Twitter messages worldwide.

The size of the crowds caused organizers to close all but one gate of the Bryce Jordan Center at 11 a.m., earlier than they did last year. From that point on, audience members could enter only as others left.

The most emotional part of Sunday for many volunteers was the Family Hour, which started about 1 p.m. Dancers, volunteers and crowd members watched videos, focusing on Four Diamonds Fund children who had survived, and also those who had died. About 240 families took the stage, and four of them addressed the crowd.

Tammy Ziegler told how her 14-year-old daughter, Miranda, was “a healthy, strong, three-sport athlete, ready to begin her first of year high school” when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the summer of 2008.

“She cried, we cried, as she shaved the last of her hair off of her head. She said that she made bald look good,” said the mother.

“The steroids bloated her face and her belly, and you can imagine how a teenage girl would feel about that. But once again, she took it like a champ.”

Miranda’s repeated refrain during treatment: “It is what it is, let’s just do what we’ve got to do.”

But she became sicker - and died on Jan. 30, 2009, 167 days after her treatment began. While Penn State students were never able to meet Miranda in person - she was too sick for visitors - Tammy Ziegler said their support was essential.

“Her fraternity and sorority had adopted her, and her pen pal never left her side. And they’ve never left ours to this very day,” she said. “They brought smiles to her face when she was sick and they brought smiles to ours while we’ve been sad.”

At the end of Family Hour, students, volunteers and parents locked arms as the song “Angels Among Us” played. Amanda Maples hugged Mike McCauley, whose son, Lachlan, has been in remission for more than two years.

“It just touches your heart,” the 20-year-old Maples said of Family Hour, adding that it’s an “emotional ride.”

Dancer Katy Poole said she felt re-energized in the last few hours.

During the last 15 minutes, she joined a circle of friends as Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/ What a Wonderful World” played. She mimed all the motions to the last line dance. And just before the final 10-second countdown began, Poole locked hands with a friend and ran around in circles with excitement.

“There were definitely parts, like in the really early mornings - where the stands were kind of empty - it starts to get a little bit mentally draining. Your feet are kind of starting to ache,” said Poole, a 20-year-old kinesiology major from State College. “But as the kids come in, the stands start to fill up, (and) especially after your totals are released, I feel like I could stay awake for another 46 hours.” http://www.centredaily.com/2010/02/22/1807476/thon-raises-record78-million.html

Dance Marathon Mom Now on the Receiving End of Charity

Thon mom reflects on prior dancing days
By Caitlin Cullerot
Collegian Staff Writer

This is the second in a five-part series exploring the Four Diamonds Fund's defining qualities -- courage, wisdom, honesty and strength -- and the people who embody them.

PHOTO: Erin Moran

Meredith Kirby and her son Max bring out their Thon toys for this year's Thon. Meredith was a Thon dancer when she attended Penn State.

"You smell like poopy," yelled Max Kirby, an energetic, blond-haired 4-year-old, to his newly adopted baby sister, who apparently soiled her diaper.

Lego blocks littered the floor of the finished basement, and the dog sat in the corner chewing on a foam dart from Max's Nerf gun.

The only indicator that the Kirbys have conquered cancer with the help of the Four Diamonds Fund is a small scar that peeks out of Max's waistband and a signed basketball from Thon Hoops, which rests on a glass shelf above the family's television.

Meredith Kirby's experience with the Four Diamonds Fund isn't just as the mother of a child who benefits from the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon; the wisdom she gained after trips to Hershey Medical Center was strengthened after an experience with Thon long before Max was ever born.

After dancing in Thon in 1994, Meredith always hoped to be involved with Thon as an alumna, but she never expected to become one of the Four Diamonds families.

Meredith's son, Max, was diagnosed with a stage four germ cell tumor two years ago after she and her husband Steve Kirby noticed a mass near the base of his spine. The cancer had spread to Max's lungs and lymph nodes by the time it was discovered.

After Max's initial diagnosis, the family was referred to the Hershey Medical Center.

Now, as a member of a Four Diamonds family, Meredith said she knows what it's like to benefit from the fund she once helped support.

"When you're a dancer, it's like, 'Oh God, those poor families.' You never think it's going to be you," Meredith said.

After her father was diagnosed with cancer, Meredith danced during her senior year for her sorority, Delta Zeta, despite lifelong foot problems. Meredith's podiatrist called her "crazy" for participating in an event requiring her to stand for 48 hours.

Meredith said her older sister had danced twice for Gamma Phi Beta sorority and had shattered her kneecap the first year while diving on the Slides of Strength, baby powder-covered mats where dancers are massaged.

"She finished the last half of Thon on crutches," Meredith said. "After that, I knew I could do it."
Meredith said the most memorable moment as a Thon dancer occurred toward the end of the weekend when a man came over to her and massaged her shoulders.

"See that boy over there?" the man asked Meredith. "He's my son, and he wouldn't be here if it weren't for you guys."

Fourteen years later, Meredith understands exactly what he means.

"Max's cancer could have been emotionally and financially devastating, but thanks to the Four Diamonds Fund, it's not," Meredith said.

The fund has covered every aspect of Max's care that insurance does not, including co-pays and special health drinks.

"We never saw a bill," Meredith said. "We could make decisions based on what was best for Max and not what our insurance would cover."

Max's last trip to Hershey for chemotherapy was more than two years ago, and he has been in remission since.

Max attended Thon for the first time after he finished treatment, and this will be the family's third Thon since Max's diagnosis.

"It was so funny because I kept telling Steve what to expect, but nothing prepared him for the magnitude of Thon," Meredith said. "We were both in tears by Sunday."

Sigma Kappa sorority and Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, 524 Locust Lane, will sponsor the Kirby family.

"You grow so close to the students you work with every year," Meredith said. "Sometimes I wish they would never graduate."