![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.kidsburgh.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/KDKA-Thon-photo.jpg\")
<\/a>THON photo courtesy of KDKA-TV.<\/p>\nThe students raise money asking friends and family for donations, hosting fundraising events like spike ball tournaments and car washes, organizing a fundraiser at every sport called \u201cPlay For The Kids,\u201d and pitching corporate sponsorships.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe go out, call sponsors, go face to face,\u201d says another senior mini-THON leader, Luke Gillen, and \u201cwork on selling and a lot of business aspects.\u201d<\/p>\n
The students get the school excited by decorating the hallways leading up to Mini-THON day, May 1. The event begins with a community event from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., with food trucks, inflatables and family activities. And then about 800 students will participate in the overnight dance marathon and games until 6 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone just gets so involved,\u201d Yeh says, \u201cand it\u2019s really inspiring to see how many kids get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through it all, the students learn about everything from social media marketing and t-shirt design to how to lead a group of people and how to make an elevator pitch.<\/p>\n
Co-teacher Brandon Flannery says it sets up the students for success after they graduate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think mostly because it\u2019s real world,\u201d Flannery says. \u201cThey\u2019re dealing with real dollars. They\u2019re dealing with real people. When they make that phone call, there is a person on the other side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
When you walk down the school hallway, you see how much the fundraiser has grown. Starting in 2013 when they raised $3,600 to 10 years later, when they raised $336,140 \u2014 breaking the national mini-THON record. The next two years, they continued to break the record with $338,205 in 2024 and $350,492 last year. They hope to break it again this year and remain the top national fundraiser.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur number one goal is always to support the cause, to try to bring awareness to it,\u201d says Mini-THON leader Paige Deklewa. \u201cBut our secondary goal is to just foster community, and I think we\u2019ve done a really good job of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The indirect lesson might be even more important than anything else they learn in school \u2014 that they can make a difference, whether it\u2019s helping kids with cancer or whatever they\u2019re passionate about.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think mostly I want them to learn the idea of empathy and how to give back,\u201d says Flannery. \u201cEven though we\u2019re not in a position to maybe help the way that a doctor or a scientist or researcher could help, we can still help. And the biggest lesson is for them, they\u2019re in a position to help, and they do.\u201d<\/p>\n