Seven hours of constant movement, sports, food and conversation with friends. Seven hours of volunteers running around, gathering food and counting the donations. Seven hours of the same mantra, “For the kids.”

Shippensburg University’s Mini-THON kicked off Friday, Nov. 13, at 5 p.m. As students passed through the ShipRec doors, they dropped donations in a jar and signed up for sports tournaments or bought raffle tickets.

Balloons were scattered across the gym floor with two screens on the stage displaying “SHIP Mini-THON 2015” and at the bottom in large green letters, “FTK,” which stands for “For the kids.”

But this constant mantra is not just from Mini-THON, it is from Four Diamonds, the organization that it supports. The Four Diamonds is an organization that is determined to end childhood cancer. The organization helps children with cancer and their families by assisting them financially at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, according to its website.

Brittany Flickinger and Emily Snyder, the co-entertainment chairs of Mini-THON, explained that the goal of the night was to keep everyone on their feet and moving. This was an attempt to keep to the idea of the original THON in Penn State University, where participants try to stay on their feet for 46 hours straight.

But this was just not about the students. Some families who have been helped by the Four Diamonds also made an appearance. Some came to tell their stories, while others came to be around the older kids and just enjoy being kids, said SU student and Four Diamonds child Kirsten German, who was also the family relations chair of Mini-THON.

“We come [to Mini-THON] to get away,” German said. Mini-THON is a way for German and other cancer patients to escape the effects of their treatments, which German said she is still experiencing. She has to take six pills a day, three anti-seizure pills, two iron pills and one sleeping pill. But while German still manages these side effects, she also added that she is still extremely thankful for the Four Diamonds.

Nate Blass, SU alumnus and a cancer survivor, founded Ship Mini-THON with Mackenzie Bender. Through lots of events and planning, the first Mini-THON had 400 students in attendance. This year’s turnout did not meet the original year, but Blass said that through more advertising, Mini-THON could have that turnout again.

Bender also agreed, “It’s a revitalization year.” She said she is optimistic about what the new group can do, but it will take some time to build Mini-THON back to what it was.

At the end of the night, there was a pay off for all the hard work. The group raised $9,150. While it did not meet the original goal of $10,000, Flickinger and Snyder were pleased. They agreed that it was still a lot of money raised for the children and that was what the whole event was about.

Marsha Bigler, who is a Four Diamonds mother who lost her daughter to cancer, wants students to know how important these events are. She said that she wants to connect with students and share her history with cancer.

As the night concluded, Bigler said, “I will probably come ’til I’m 100, as long as I can.”

Share