Location: Hershey, PA
Connection to Four Diamonds: I was a former Morale Committee member (’09, ’10), Entertainment Captain (’11) and then Entertainment Overall for THON 2012. I then was an intern with Four Diamonds for a year before working full-time on the Mini-THON team for about 2 years.
Years of Involvement: THON (’09-’12); Four Diamonds (’12-’15)
Why is the partnership between Four Diamonds and THON important?
Four Diamonds and THON are very symbiotic; both feed off of the success of the other. Four Diamonds has expanded their level of support from financially supporting families to now providing a psychosocial team and funding innovative research that will improve treatment quality and eventually find a cure. This is all possible because of the support of THON and is something that THON is then able to show to their supporters as results of the work that they all put in every day of the year.
What is your favorite memory?
My favorite memory regarding the partnership happened at the viewing of a young man who had passed away after his battle with cancer. I was with members of the THON 2012 Overall Committee and when we saw the father he immediately hugged and began to thank us. He then said, “Because of all of you, I had three extra years with my son.” It was at that moment that things began to click – THON was able to provide the resources to help Four Diamonds and Penn State Children’s Hospital do everything that they could to provide the greatest quality of life for the children and families going through this battle.
What is your dream for Four Diamonds and THON over the next 40 years?
Continuing to inspire students, friends and families to join them in the fight against childhood cancer and giving them hope that, one day, we will find a cure.
