Kayla Fuller (senior-kinesiology) didn't want to go first -- but she didn't have a choice. With her friends cheering her on, she approached the bench and faced her fears for the kids.

Wednesday night 43 competitors gathered in the White Building for the 2nd Annual Bench Press for Thon, hosted by the Penn State Powerlifting Club.

Lifters were put into weight classes -- three classes for women and five classes for men -- and went in order from lightest to heaviest, said Kelly Dormer, vice president and co-Thon chair for the club.

Each competitor chose a starting weight and had three attempts to get that weight or keep increasing, said Ben Werner, president of the Powerlifting Club.

The competition connected with one of the four diamonds of Thon -- strength.

"What [the kids] don't have for strength, we do," said Charlie Fohringer (freshman-division of undergraduate studies).

The slogan of the event was "come out and show your strength so they can show theirs," said Ryan Grady (junior-management).

"It's for Thon, it's for the kids," he said.

Werner said many people were reluctant to sign up because they didn't think they were strong enough.

"It's not that competitive," he said. "Nobody is really training for it."

The group has a lot of other competitions throughout the semester that are more competitive, Grady said.

"This is just for a good time," he said. "I'm just out for the kids."

It is just to raise money for Thon and the judges are very lenient, Werner said.

Usually there are a lot of rules for powerlifting competitions, said Nick Mercurio, one of the judges.

"Basically we're just trying to keep things safe," he said.

The only rules were that the competitors couldn't bounce the weight off their chest and they must keep their feet on the ground, Mercurio said.

"This one is for the kids, it's a nice way to give back a little," said Michael Loncharich (sophomore-kinesiology).

The event raised money through a $15 entrance fee, all of which went directly to Thon.

The Powerlifting Club hoped to match the $650 it raised last year at the event.

"I would've paid any amount of money as long as the proceeds go to Thon," said John Govanicci (sophomore-biology).

Prizes were awarded to the winner of each weight class and included T-shirts and gift certificates from local businesses.