Springfield's Mini-THON Raises Funds, Awareness Like Penn State's THON

Springfield High School's mini-THON raised $170,262.58 in 2012.
Photo submitted by Chelsea Pierce.

Mini-THONs are just like Penn State’s THON, but they’re run by high school, middle school and elementary students. In 2012, there were 80 mini-THONs.

Springfield High School has had mini-THONs for the last 10 years in the memory of Steve Stefani, a Social Studies teacher who passed away in 2002 from lung cancer. Springfield rose over $170,000 this year.

“A mini-THON is a chance for high school students to do the same thing the big THON does,” said John Gildea, who has been Springfield’s mini-THON’s faculty advisor for the last seven years. “It allows students to have leadership and compassion for these children, and it allows them to come together as a school and raise donations for the Four Diamonds Fund.”

Gildea is a Penn State alumnus who danced three times at Penn State’s THON, so he knows what THON is about. He brings students who are a part of Springfield’s leadership team up to Penn State’s THON each year.

“It really hits home for them when they see family hour and the total being revealed,” Gildea said.

The experience for some of Gildea’s students has prompted them to attend Penn State.

“THON definitely pushed me to go to Penn State,” said Chelsea Pierce, who graduated from Springfield in 201o. “When I had the opportunity to go to Penn State to see the big THON, I was sold on Penn State. I wanted to be here and needed to be here to continue to give back to THON.”

Pierce was Penn State THON’s 2012 communications captain and the mini-THON/Dance Marathon liaison, a position that has allowed her to reconnect with Springfield’s mini-THON.

“I gave mini-THONs fundraising ideas, and worked first-hand with them,” Pierce said. “There were 80 mini-THONs this year compared to 60 last year, so they’re also continuing to expand. I was in charge of planning mini-THON appreciation day, too. It’s a way to show the schools that we really appreciate them, and to highlight the impact they're making as they fight alongside us to change the lives of these families and to one day find a cure.”

Another Springfield student, Taylor Block, bought into Penn State after attending 2012’s mini-THON appreciation day and touring Penn State’s THON. She applied to Penn State less than a week after 2012’s THON and was accepted.

“Taylor has grown into a remarkable young woman,” Gildea said. “She has compassion and work ethic. She was our top individual fundraiser this year, and she embodies the FTK spirit.”

Pierce and Block are just two of many Springfield students that have gone to Penn State, because they are sold on THON. With 665 Springfield students volunteering for mini-THON in the last year, Pierce and Block won’t be the last.

Chelsea Pierce spends time with Sydney Bush, a THON child, at Springfield High School's 2010 mini-THON.
Photo submitted by Chelsea Pierce.