I think Thon is truly something special and have donated to the cause myself. The students involved should commend themselves for another successful year. The money will go to a useful cause: helping children with cancer at the Penn State Children's Hospital in Hershey. I'm sure this money will help families throughout central Pennsylvania.

However, "Students travel as far north as Vermont and as far south as Virginia to raise their cans for the kids" according to a Thon Web site (www.thon.org/fundraising/canning.asp). So why does the money raised only go to families that seek help at the Penn State Children's Hospital? This is only one of five pediatric cancer centers in Pennsylvania.

I'm not frustrated with the fact that you are helping children with cancer, my frustration lies in the fact that communities that the canners solicit from do not receive the benefits of the donations. For example, Fayette County is an economically depressed area south of Pittsburgh. Penn State Fayette Campus raises more than $60,000 every year to help support Thon. Most of this money comes from generous individuals within the county. However, this money is only helping children in central Pennsylvania.

Fayette County has a family poverty rate of 13.8 percent and an individual poverty rate of 18 percent. And this is represented across the state. Philadelphia County has a family poverty rate of 18.4 percent and an individual poverty rate of 22.9 percent, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

So why not help children with cancer at hospitals all over the state such as at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia or Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, or at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville?

Communities such as Fayette or Philadelphia are already economically depressed enough; taking money away from these communities is doing a disservice to those children in need.

I challenge the students that run Thon to think about the true level of impact on all the people involved and to spread the wealth.