Mini-Thon: What They Do for The Kids

Mini-Thon is a club at Pennridge High School that raises money for the non-profit organization Four Diamonds. The money that is raised for this organization goes to the Penn State Health Children’s Hospital in Hershey. The money goes towards cancer treatments, hospital stays, research, therapy, and entertainment for kids. One of the leaders of this club, Schoettle, says that “the goal is to make sure a family never sees a hospital bill. Once a Four Diamonds kid, always a Four Diamonds kid. They are always covered”. Schoettle explained that any child who gets donated money through Four Diamonds is covered forever. If this child gets treatment at age five and then needs treatment again at age 25, Four Diamonds will still cover them. They will be helped for a lifetime. For this to happen, there needs to be a lot of fundraising to continue funding for the children for their lifetime.

There is a lot that needs to happen behind the scenes of the fundraising. First off, there is always a goal in mind. Every fundraiser that goes on throughout the year goes towards this goal, and all the money at the end of the year is given to Four Diamonds. There is a Gold Out football game in September, merchandise sales, winter apparel sales, fundraisers at basketball games, and the big Mini-Thon event in the spring, which is a school dance fundraiser. There is also a color run that goes on during the spring. The registration to attend these events goes towards the big money goal. Another event is a mini-Mini-Thon, where the high schoolers plan a small event for each of the middle schools, so they are aware of the fundraising and come into high school wanting to help support this cause.

Secondly, there are different committees that oversee different things. There are committees for each of the events such as Gold Out and apparel sales, and there are many small committees within the Mini-Thon main event. For the main event, there are community outreach committees, sponsorship committees, game committees, food committees, advertising committees, and so on. A member of the club, Ashley Ambolino, says that “the line-dance committee comes up with the music for the events. Advertising committees make posters and announcements that advertise the event. It is a time-consuming club and we put in a huge amount of work, but it is for a good cause. It is for the kids”.

Money is raised by these different events, but it is also raised from donations and sponsors. This money must be approved by the whole club along with the school, and then is sent over to Four Diamonds who sends it to the hospital. Throughout the year, so much planning goes on within this club. At the main event in the spring, the total amount of money raised from all the fundraisers is revealed, and their original goal is hopefully exceeded. People might only see what goes on during the big events, but there is so much planning and work that goes on behind the scenes and it is all for an amazing cause.