Every three minutes, somewhere in the world, a family hears the heartbreaking words: Your child has cancer. Pennridge Mini-THON has joined a powerful movement across the nation to fight childhood cancer. Their main event is swiftly approaching, and is scheduled to kick off at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 18th, 2020; it will last nine hours. Club members and officers have been diligently working in preparation, and are encouraging Pennridge students to join them in the fight.

For those unfamiliar with the Mini-THON mission, their year-round fundraising efforts support Four Diamonds, an organization that assists children treated at Penn State Children’s Hospital and their families through superior care. While directly impacting these people each day, Four Diamonds is funding innovative research initiatives attempting to create and improve treatments. Ultimately, they are also assisting people in the future as they work towards a cure for cancer. The Mini-THON motto is For The Kids™, or FTK® for short. You’ll hear that term a lot in Mini-THON. In the words of Mr. Brown, adviser of the club, “Mini-THON is about empowering kids to make their visions come to life”.

This year, Mini-THON is thrilled to be integrating its Disney theme throughout different aspects of the event. From the start, the iconic 2020 shirt design proudly exhibits the theme. Abby Cozza, an overall chair, said that “attendees can look forward to a hidden Mickey scavenger hunt.” In addition, the line dance will feature classic songs to fit the theme. The spirit committee is designing themed decorations to deck out the high school.

Taking a peek at the preliminary schedule, the main event will be jam-packed with activities spread out around the school. In the White Gym, competitive games will run every 30 minutes, including ‘steal the bacon,’ relay races, tug of war, extreme musical hoops, and dodgeball. Freestyle activities will be in the Green Gym, including Gaga, Spikeball, 9-Square, other yard games, and inflatables. Around dinner time, Here’s The Scoop ice cream and Rita’s Water Ice will be available in the cafeteria, along with cupcake decorating. In the hallways, participants will find photo booths, merchandise, raffle baskets, and video games. In order to bring dancers back to the root cause, a special guest speaker is preparing to address participants with their family’s experience with childhood cancer. Dancers can show support for their loved ones by putting names on the ‘Who Do You Stand For?’ wall. To send wishes to children who are currently fighting their battle, dancers can visit the card-making stations. To close out the activities, everyone will move into the White Gym for the final hours when the lights go out. Lip sync battles will go down on stage, eventually turning into a rave. Mini-THON is bringing in an event production company to take the White Gym to new heights by providing a concert-level experience.

At the end of the night, Mini-THON officers reveal the total amount of money raised, by slowly raising boards with the numbers. Last year, Pennridge Mini-THON raised a total of $52,007.66, crushing its fundraising goal. The club is optimistic in its ability to surpass this achievement by drawing in more students with both an exciting theme and next-level experience in the White Gym.

On Monday, March 9th, Mini-THON will be holding their kickoff assembly during periods nine and ten to detail what to look forward to. Packets will be available at the assembly explaining how to register online with DonorDrive, and where to return the registration fee. This year, the registration fee is $30, which covers the event costs associated with refreshments, entertainment, and shirts. Registration begins after the kickoff and must be returned by March 20th to lock in an event t-shirt. Dancers are encouraged to fundraise at least $35 using the DonorDrive platform by sharing the link to their individualized fundraising page. As a reward for these efforts, Mini-THON offers merchandise and raffle tickets.

Keep up with the Mini-THON team by following them @PHSMTHON on Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. Updates will be posted there, and questions about the event can be directed to those accounts.

Pennridge Mini-THON. April 18th. It’s all For The Kids!