CENTER VALLEY, Pa. \u2014 The cheers of excitement have quieted. The confetti has been swept up, and the results are in for 2026 THON, Penn State\u2019s annual 46-hour dance marathon held at the Bryce Jordan Center benefiting Four Diamonds at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. THON is the largest student-run philanthropic organization in the world.<\/p>\n
A total of $18,841,726.53 was raised from this year\u2019s event \u2014 Penn State Lehigh Valley (PSU-LV) raised $46,773.19 and ranked third amongst the Commonwealth Campuses. Students completed several on- and off-campus fundraisers and used their donor drives to help grow their totals. Supportive alumni made significant contributions, specifically through an annual book drive organized by Penn State alumnus and PSU-LV advisory board member Howard Kulp, and the successful \u201cHops for Hope\u201d campaign sponsored by Lost Tavern Brewing Company. Owner and Penn State alumnus Kenny Rampolla holds this annual fundraiser at Lost Tavern to show ongoing support for finding a cure for pediatric cancers. <\/p>\n
Four PSU-LV students \u2014 Ben Brodhead, Kaleb Ogden, Sage Lin and Alayna Limani \u2014 spent 46 hours on their feet for the cause of fighting childhood cancer. All four students held leadership roles in the campus THON chapter, and all four had different reasons for wanting to get involved.<\/p>\n
Brodhead\u2019s mother and grandmother are both cancer survivors. His mother is a teacher, and at the same time she was undergoing treatment, a student in her class received their own cancer diagnosis. This created a strong bond between the two families, Brodhead said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing this completely different side of life \u2014 it stuck with me ever since,\u201d Brodhead said. THON was a big reason why he chose to attend Penn State, he added, and he wasted no time getting involved, serving as the overall THON chair for the PSU-LV campus as well as a dancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t get involved in THON right away \u2014 I wanted to see what else the campus had to offer,” he said. “I was named chair in May of last year, and I want every student that walks through the door of the building to be familiar with THON and our mission. It\u2019s such a beautiful cause, and it\u2019s amazing to see what college students can do. It\u2019s really special to me. We\u2019re not just here to get a college degree, but to change the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Limani, a first-year finance major, served as alumni and donor relations director for PSU-LV\u2019s THON chapter as well as a dancer. Limani\u2019s sister was a THON dancer nearly eight years ago, and Limani said she has vivid memories of driving out to the BJC to cheer her sister on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the impact, and I thought, \u2018I want to do that if I ever go to Penn State,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI really did believe in the cause, but when I saw the impact, I wanted to be part of something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Limani said she focused on preparing herself mentally for what\u2019s a 46-hour endurance test in many ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cI work in food service, so I\u2019m pretty used to standing for long periods,” she said. “It was the no sleep that was tough. It did exceed my expectations, though. You\u2019re surrounded by all these people, and it\u2019s a feeling you can\u2019t really prepare for. You\u2019re reminded that it\u2019s such a privilege to be able to dance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Limani encouraged other students to get involved with THON, even if it\u2019s not as a dancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great way to meet people who share common goals. It\u2019s not a club where you all have to be the same major, and you can make such an impact on children fighting cancer and their families,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Kaleb Ogden, a second-year marketing major, served as marketing director for the PSU-LV THON chapter. He said he knew he wanted to be part of it after attending the 2025 event as a spectator.<\/p>\n
\u201cWitnessing the event truly made me realize the actual scale and positive impact of THON, and I knew right away that I wanted to be more directly involved, and I wanted to take on the challenge of dancing,\u201d he said. The experience exceeded his expectations in many ways.<\/p>\n
\u201cStanding and staying awake for 46 hours pushed me beyond what I thought were my limits,\u201d he said. \u201cAdditionally, being surrounded by so many dedicated and hardworking individuals was truly inspiring, and the feeling that I was able to contribute to something on such a large scale was truly amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lin, a first-year psychology major, was off-campus events director for the campus\u2019 THON chapter. She said she was excited to dance to show the Four Diamonds families how much support they have and put a smile on everyone\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m dedicated and committed, especially because it\u2019s for a good cause,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
THON advisors Pam Fleck, assistant director of student affairs, and Joe Schwartz, admissions counselor, along with D\u2019Andre Miller, director of student affairs, accompanied the dancers and PSU-LV student cheering section to University Park. Fleck has attended several THONs and said the experience is unlike anything else.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter how many years I\u2019ve been a part of it and go to it, you\u2019re reenergized by the enthusiasm and school spirit,” Fleck said. “You see the Four Diamonds children and their families, and our kids and how they interact with them. You see the tradition and how much they all value it \u2014 that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about. It\u2019s a fantastic Penn State tradition. It\u2019s an experience and event that doesn\u2019t happen to the level it does at Penn State anywhere else. The energy, the enthusiasm, and the dedication of the students \u2014 it touches your Penn State heart like nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CENTER VALLEY, Pa. \u2014 The cheers of excitement have quieted. The confetti has been swept up, and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-148423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}