Penn State Beaver THON dancers, from left, Allyson Pinchot, Samantha Freed and Marissa King show their spirit during the annual THON weekend. This year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the women danced in the Penn State Beaver Student Union Building Lodge.
Penn State’s THON was very different in 2021 because of the on-going pandemic, but dancers across the university, including from Penn State Beaver, were still on their feet to raise money for the cause.
Penn State Beaver had three dancers this year: sophomore Samantha Freed, junior Marissa King and sophomore Allyson Pinchot. Instead of going to University Park, the three danced in the Lodge on campus the weekend of Feb. 19. Donations were gathered online and the event was livestreamed.
The Penn State Beaver Benefitting THON Organization raised $10,353.60 For The Kids. The overall total for 2021 was $10,638,078.62.
Penn State Beaver Alumni Society supported our three dancers by donating $500 toward their fundraising and purchasing meals for them during the event.
THON is a student-run organization that supports families and children impacted by childhood cancer. The yearly dance marathon has raised $180 million for the cause since it began.
Pinchot, an engineering major, said she got involved with THON because she wanted to make a difference.
“I started my journey in high school by donating all the proceeds from my senior project to Beaver’s THON organization and my involvement just grew from there,” Pinchot said. “This year has been very different for us since we weren’t able to hold large in-person fundraisers which usually produce a large amount of our total each year.”
Freed said she decided to participate in THON because she has a passion for helping others and wanted to give back to the community.
Freed said while she was sad she wouldn’t be able to participate in the full event at University Park “to experience THON in its full glory at Penn State with everyone in the Bryce Jordan Center,” she was still very excited for the event.
“I am thankful for having the opportunity to dance this year,” Freed said.
Pinchot agreed.
“I’m excited to still be able to dance and represent Penn State Beaver, but I’m nervous about how this will all play out since we don’t have the energy of the Bryce Jordan Center packed with students and all the support we normally would have. We have a lot of fun activities planned and hopefully will be able to keep ourselves entertained and continue dancing,” she said.