No doubt about it: It's been a couple of very big weeks for THON.
But it wasn't just because Khloe Kardashian and friends like Lindsay Lohan and Perez Hilton spread the word about THON through Twitter and respective blogs.
Amidst all the celebrity-word-of-mouth about THON, Pat Howley, a Penn State student with no celebrity status, unknowingly took it one step further by pledging to donate a dollar to THON for every new follower of AbolishCancer's Twitter account on January 29.
Howley expected to donate $50 at the most, but after Kardashian retweeted his pledge, a small percentage of her 900,000-plus followers took notice. At the end of the day, Howley was, according to his initial pledge, expected to donate $1,734 to THON.
Obviously, Howley needed some help to meet the goal.
Though his friends and relatives offered support through his Facebook group, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and Panhellenic Council (PHC) still decided to take action. Both organizations voted last Tuesday to match Howley's exact donation of $1,734, doubling his original pledge. On top of that, Penn State alumnus Chris Bonzo decided to match his original pledge up to $3,000.
Time for some math: Double the original pledge amount ($3,468) and add $3,000. You have close to $6,500 dollars donated to THON.
This outpouring of support from so many different areas -- greek and non-greek students, alumni and even celebrities -- over something that started out small is to be commended. What Howley believed would only be a pledge of $50 turned into a possible $6,500 for the kids.
We applaud the IFC/PHC especially for matching the donation, truly proving that THON is not about what greek students are doing nor which celebrities we can enlist to the cause.
With these recent events, the PSU community has shown its true colors when it comes to THON: It truly is all about the kids.
