THON 2009 Wrap-Up
My brothers and Alumni,
It's hard to believe that THON weekend is over already. All of the hard work and preparation leading up to this year's Dance Marathon was an honor to be a part of and everyone should be proud to be a Theta Chi and a Penn Stater.
As everyone knows by now, THON raised $7,490,133.87 for the kids. This was a feat that was thought to be impossible to accomplish this year, especially with the economy in the state that it's in right now. The Penn State community showed that nothing is impossible, and, in the process, provided a refuge for families that are dealing with the worst of circumstances.
Kent and I are equally as proud of the brotherhood and our alumni for increasing our money total from last year ($7,400) by almost $10,000! Theta Chi officially raised $16,892.85 for the kids this year, surpassing our goal of $15,000 by a staggering $1,892.85! This really shows the progress that our fraternity has made for this great cause in the last year. We could not have done it without those of you who went canning, got pledges and sent letters. We really could not have done it without the generous donations of our alumni.
L to R: Jasen Marshall, Penn State President Graham B. Spanier and Casey Leman at THON 2009
Finally, a great deal of credit should go to our dancers. Jasen Marshall and Casey Leman did a fantastic job dancing for 46 straight hours without sitting or receiving a wink of sleep. They both earned the right to dance and everyone should be proud of their efforts this weekend. Thanks to all of those who visited our dancers on the floor and danced like fools in the stands until the wee hours of the morning. Your presence meant a lot to the dancers (and to your THON chairs, too!)
Looking forward, as our last duty as your THON chairs, Kent and I hope to establish a partnership with Gamma Sigma Sigma for next year's THON, and hopefully many more THONs to come. We hope that this partnership not only motivates more brothers so that we can raise even more money, but we also hope to have the privilege of adopting a THON family.
Thanks again for everybody who made THON 2009 bigger and better than I could have ever imagined!
For the Kids (FTK),
Jared Case
Co-Thon Chairman
