Bud Shuster: “A little over a week ago, I spent a very memorable and moving afternoon watching Penn State students taking part in…”

“A little over a week ago, I spent a very memorable and moving afternoon watching Penn State students taking part in THON, the annual Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon. THON at Penn State is no small event. It remains the largest student-run philanthropy in the world which since 1977 has raised over $68 million for the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Children's Hospital to fight childhood cancer. THON involves over 15,000 student volunteers from Penn State's University Park campus and its 19 commonwealth campuses. Over 700 dancers take part in THON's marquee event: a 46 hour dance marathon at the Bryce Jordan Center. Thousands of other students join in as moralers, family and public relations, entertainment, donor relations, finance, communication, hospitality, logistics, technology, rules and regulations, and `OPP'erations team members. These students' year-long efforts culminate in THON weekend--truly an amazing and uplifting sight to see. All of the student dancers, volunteers and sponsors who participated in this year's THON deserve recognition from Congress and the thanks of Americans everywhere for their work to help end the scourge of childhood cancer. Their hard work resulted in raising $7.83 million this year, breaking last year's record of $7.5 million. I am proud to say that my own daughter was among the hundreds of students who took part in THON 2010.”