Over 700 dancers sat for the first time in 46 hours as the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon drew to an end. The dancers, along with a standing room only Bryce Jordan Center crowd, watched intently as the amount of money raised was announced.
THON 2008 raised $6,615,318.04 in an effort to conquer pediatric cancer. The total shattered the previous record of $5,240,385.17 raised in 2007.
The money raised will go to the Four Diamonds Fund in Hershey, Pa. The Fund assists children, and their families, being treated at Penn State Children’s Hospital in Hershey, Pa. The money raised is used to offset treatment costs that insurance does not cover and pay a portion of the medical team’s salary at the hospital. The money also funds pediatric cancer research through start-up grants and the Four Diamonds Pediatric Cancer Research Institute.