Students who want to raise money for the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon but would rather not stand in the streets with a can or beg door-to-door now have several alternatives.
In one program, students can "turn their trash into cash" thanks to Penn State Recycling, Office of Physical Plant and Thon organizers.
Organizations participating in Thon can turn in bags of aluminum cans to be recycled, weighed and converted to a monetary value. The money will be donated to the organization’s Thon total.
"The current market value per bag is approximately 10 to 15 dollars," said Natalia Paich, operations overall chair for Thon 2002.
The fundraising program will benefit the Four Diamonds Fund for children with cancer, and the Earth at the same time, Paich said.
All interested organizations can sign up from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 28 in 218 HUB-Robeson Center. Special clear trash bags and orange tags will be handed out.
Only intact aluminum cans will receive credit for the program; crushed cans or other trash materials will not be accepted. Also, each bag must have the organization’s Thon identification number printed on the tags.
Drop-off and pick-up locations are the dumpsters to the right of Waring Commons and behind Redifer Commons and the dumpsters behind Stone Hall in East Halls.
Pick-up will run every Monday and Friday from Dec. 3 until Feb. 18.
Attending Penn State basketball games also can benefit Thon through a promotion sponsored by the Nittany Lions and Lady Lions basketball teams.
For participating greek organizations, a portion of the group ticket rate will be donated to Thon in the name of that organization. The party must have six or more people to be eligible for the donation.
Tickets must be bought at the full price of $12 for men’s games and $5 for women’s games. The donation would be $3 from the men’s ticket price and $2 from the women’s ticket price.
"We would like to increase student representation at basketball games and help Thon in the process," said Lisa Bennett, a student assistant for the Penn State Sports Marketing Department.
This year, only greek organizations would be eligible to participate in the basketball promotion.
"We would like to extend it to many other student groups in the future, but since this is the first year, we are just starting with greek groups," Bennett said.
Bennett and assistant marketing manager Martin Salamone developed the program. Salamone was not available for comment this weekend.
Groups should drop off their ticket stubs in the mailbox at The Bryce Jordan Center ticket office. Stubs must be labeled with the name of the organization and a contact person. Tickets can be ordered at the Jordan center ticket office and the HUB-Robeson Center Information Desk.
