This weekend, months of dedicated preparation will culminate in 15,000 students taking over the Bryce Jordan Center for 46 hours to show their support for families affected by childhood cancer and announce the millions of dollars raised for that cause.
The IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (Thon) is evidence of how much a group of students united by a common goal can achieve. Without the money raised by Thon for the Four Diamonds Fund -- created for families at Hershey Medical Center -- many families would be forced to make even more life-altering sacrifices to care for their children.
The Fund exists to help offset the potentially devastating costs of cancer treatment not covered by insurance and to help families offset living expenses such as rent and car repairs in an effort to help keep some semblance of normalcy during troubled times, in addition to funding research.
While it is arguably the best student philanthropic effort in the country, Thon also highlights a deep flaw in the U.S. health care system.
Under no circumstances should it be an expectation that having a child with cancer will involve potentially bankrupting medical bills for any family. However, that is disconcertingly standard in the United States, and is a reality for the families without access to programs like the Four Diamonds Fund. In many countries around the world that's not the case.
However, in the United States, many families are forced to find some way to come up with the many thousands of dollars needed for surgeries, chemotherapy and doctors visits, during a time when finances should be the last thing on their mind.
While government officials refuse to develop necessary and effective ways to financially help families affected by cancer, a bunch of college kids have found a way to fill that void. Since its inception, Thon has raised more than $52 million and helped thousands of families deal with this deadly disease.
Thon is more than just dancing, it's more than canning, it's even more than the total raised by the end of the weekend. Thon should, at its heart, be truly about helping kids. The hours of exhaustion, foot-pounding soreness and sleep-deprived delirium is worth it knowing the money raised will help kids survive and give them a chance to live the same lives most college students often-times take for granted each day.
This weekend, even more stories of hope and courage will be made during the 46 hours of Thon, and when those 15,000 students leave the BJC they will leave knowing they have truly worked to make a much-needed difference.
Hopefully someday the dancing will stop because there will no longer be a need for an event like Thon. Hopefully someday painfully high medical bills will no longer be the status quo, and hopefully someday cancer will be truly cured. But until that day, at least there will always be a group of college students coming together each February to help give kids afflicted by cancer hope.
Yes, economic times are tough and exceeding last year's total of more than $6.6 million may not seem feasible. But eclipsing that mark isn't what's important and isn't what Thon is about. Every dollar raised and every hour dedicated is meaningful to the Four Diamonds Families.
