Altoona raises over $68,000 for THON to rank second among Commonwealth campuses

ALTOONA, Pa. — Penn State's THON 2017 raised more than $10 million for Four Diamonds at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital.

The $10,045,478.44 total was revealed at the close of the 46-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon held Feb. 17-19 in the Bryce Jordan Center at University Park. Altoona students raised $68,919.10 to rank second among Commonwealth campuses, behind only Penn State Fayette ($93,943.62).

Penn State Altoona's six dancers were Ryan Crosby, Marissa Gonzalez, Alexis Hile, Alexis Schumacher, Patrick Spurlock, and Gianna Zangara. In addition to the dancers, other Altoona Benefiting THON members worked tirelessly to raise funds for Four Diamonds. Executive board members and captains include Mackenzie Gardner, Bill Butterfield, Jason Marcus, Carolyn Nguyen, Devyn Sax, Alexa Zelle, Olivia Sherer, David Weitzman, Jenna Lira, Thomas Novak, Sami Bruno, Sarah Jobe, Rudy Fuzayrov, Alyssa Meany, Angela Andolina, Caroline Morris, Patrick Leadbeater, Lauren D'Orazio, Tiffaney Jarett, Kendra Physher, Katie Bush, Katie Brennan, Samantha Rymdeika and Katie Toth.

The funds raised by THON are used to cover the treatment costs for pediatric cancer patients as well as supported cancer research. Since 1977, THON has raised more than $146 million for Four Diamonds at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital.