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Three female students, wearing face masks, hold letters that spell Beaver

Penn State Beaver THON dancers take to floor

Penn State’s THON may be very different this year because of the on-going pandemic, but dancers across the university, including from Penn State Beaver, will still be on their feet to raise money for the cause.

MONACA — Penn State’s THON may be very different this year because of the on-going pandemic, but dancers across the university, including from Penn State Beaver, will still be on their feet to raise money for the cause.

Penn State Beaver has three dancers this year: sophomore Samantha Freed, junior Marissa King and sophomore Allyson Pinchot. Instead of going to University Park, the three will be dancing in the Lodge on campus beginning the evening of Feb. 19 through Sunday afternoon. Donations this year were gathered online.

THON is a student-run organization that supports families and children impacted by childhood cancer. The yearly dance marathon has raised $180 million for the cause since it began. 

Pinchot, an engineering major, said she got involved with THON because she wanted to make a difference. 

“I started my journey in high school by donating all the proceeds from my senior project to Beaver’s THON organization and my involvement just grew from there,” Pinchot said. “This year has been very different for us since we weren’t able to hold large in-person fundraisers which usually produce a large amount of our total each year.”

Freed said she decided to participate in THON because she has a passion for helping others and wanted to give back to the community.

Freed said while she’s sad she won’t be able to participate in the full event at University Park “to experience THON in its full glory at Penn State with everyone in the Bryce Jordan Center,” she’s still very excited for the event.

“I am thankful for having the opportunity to dance this year. I am nervous about being tired, but I know I have a great support system who will help me through the weekend,” Freed said.

Pinchot agreed.

“I’m excited to still be able to dance and represent Penn State Beaver, but I’m nervous about how this will all play out since we don’t have the energy of the Bryce Jordan Center packed with students and all the support we normally would have. We have a lot of fun activities planned and hopefully will be able to keep ourselves entertained and continue dancing,” she said. 

Penn State Beaver students are invited to stop in the Lodge to support the dancers. There will be socially distanced activities, and masks are required.