Pennsbury Students Raise More Than $50,000 During Fourth Annual Mini-THON

Students at Pennsbury High School in Falls Township raised more than $50,000 in their fourth annual Mini-THON.

The eight-hour dance marathon Saturday at the high school concluded months of fundraising at football game fundraiser, smoothie sales, and Mini-THON Thursdays.

Throughout the course of the Mini-THON’s tradition at the high school, students went from raising about $18,000 in the inaugural year to $51,275.94 this year. The money goes towards the Four Diamonds Fund at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center to help fight pediatric cancer.

Students Charlie Bluestein and Kate Goldinger, this year’s co-chairs, worked to make the Mini-THON Pennsbury’s most lucrative for the cause yet.

“The biggest thing about today is seeing all of the work we did over the past year coming together,” Bluestein said.

Bluestein first got involved with the Mini-THON as a freshman in the program’s first year. That year, his brother Henry was one of the student co-chairs.

In the four years that Bluestein has been involved in Pennsbury’s Mini-THON, he has held different roles ranging from public relations representative to to co-chair as a senior. Bluestein will be attending Wake Forest in the fall.

Goldinger became involved in the first Mini-THON as a freshman when her little cousin was diagnosed with pediatric cancer.

One key to success, if you ask Goldinger, is the group’s’ tendency to try different ideas each year.

“It’s really neat to see how the students react,” Goldinger said.

Going by financial results, it is likely fair to say that the changes year over year were well received, the student organizers said.

“It’s something that is always going to be special to me,” said Goldinger, who will be attending Temple University in the fall.

The program is mostly run by students but two faculty members act as advisors for the program.

“We try to let the kids do as much as we possibly can,” said Meaghan Cappelloni, one of the faculty advisors.

Cappelloni attended Penn State and took part in the college’s THON event.

Justine McEachern is the second faculty advisor on the program.