Standing in the snow for hours, a group of students from the Schreyer Honors College solicited change from passing cars yesterday to raise money for children with cancer.

"It's a great feeling when you have to empty out your can and get a new one," said Jodi Washinsky (junior-microbiology), one of the Penn State students from more than 275 organizations participating in the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon who went canning during the weekend.

Canning, or canister solicitation, is the primary method Thon uses to raise money. Four times during the year, students from fraternities, sororities and other student groups stand beside roads or in front of stores to receive donations from anyone willing to contribute spare change. This weekend was the third trip.

Although people who stopped at a red light usually gave Washinsky change, she sometimes receives bills worth more than a dollar during her canning adventures, she said as she walked beside Plank Road yesterday in Altoona.

"The largest bill I ever got was a 20," she said. "I've heard of people getting 100s."

Washinsky and other students canning for the honors college would occasionally exclaim, "I got a five!"

Shawna Barry (senior-biology) and Amalie Tuerk (freshman-chemical engineering) told colorful stories from previous canning trips.

"You'll get the nicest people and the meanest people," Barry said of her experiences.

Once, during a previous canning trip, a woman dying of cancer thanked her, Barry said.

But not all experiences are as rewarding, she said.

"Some people give you tokens from Chuck E. Cheese's instead of actual money," she said.

She related another story about a man putting his business card in her can instead of money and telling her, "Just call my number and I'll take you to Vegas, where we can fill that can."

The comment was sleazy but funny, she said.

During their last canning trip, the group received donations from two tour buses, Tuerk said.

As they returned from lunch, they approached two men standing outside the parked buses, hoping the men would give spare change. As it turned out, the two men were the drivers, and they permitted Tuerk and another woman to walk inside the buses to collect donations, she said.

The group canning for the Schreyer Honors College all agreed that they enjoyed doing it, although at times their experiences were trying.

"It's rewarding, but it gets frustrating," Washinsky said. "People don't give a lot and you get some snide remarks."

Getting people to show up for the trip seemed to be a problem. Barry said mono and food poisoning thinned their ranks.

Although only three people represented their group yesterday, Washinsky said they raised close to $300 by the time the group returned to their cars, tired, wet and cold.

Washinsky has gone canning since her freshman year.

"I get so wrapped up in school work; it's something to get my mind off it. It's a chance to do something good and feel good about yourself," she said.