Penn State Worthington Scranton students Jerry Palauskas, a business major from Scranton, and Katie Torres, a liberal arts major from Greentown, are going to THON - Penn State's annual dance marathon that raises money to help fight pediatric cancer.
On Thursday, students, staff, faculty and alumni gathered in the campus' Study Learning Center for a celebratory send-off for Mr. Palauskas and Ms. Torres, before they left for University Park.
Penn State Worthington Scranton raised over $10,000 for the effort, earning the campus the privilege of having official student dancers in the event.
Each year, students from Penn State campuses across the state participate in fundraising efforts to raise money for the charity on behalf of their home campus. Those that raise $10,000 or more get to send student dancers to dance in the marathon, representing their campus.
The Penn State Worthington Scranton Alumni Society also helped to raise money for the cause, joining forces with the students and the community with its annual Zumba-THON, with all proceeds going to the THON effort. They raised $1,500.
The Penn State Dance Marathon, or THON, is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, benefitting the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. In 2014 it raised a record-breaking $13.34 million through THON Weekend, exceeding the previous year's total by $1 million.
This year, 708 dancers, representing all of Penn State's campuses will dance for 46 hours straight in the University's Bryce Jordan Center.
