On Friday, Feb. 23, Mini-THON hosted its annual main event. They showcased the year’s donations and brought together the student body to celebrate their fundraising work. Aimed to help raise money for Four Diamonds, a non-profit organization that helps pay medical costs and other costs for childhood cancer, Mini-THON included several fundraising opportunities throughout the year, including Four Diamonds T-shirts, a sports showcase and the Snowball Dance. This year, Manheim Township’s Mini-THON raised $74,546.81 in total.
The night started at 6 p.m. with an hour of free-time to enjoy the inflatables in the South Gym, play basketball in the Arena, or eat food and play yard games in the cafeteria. At 7 p.m., the official Mini-THON event kicked off with a brief overview of the night and purpose of the celebration from some of the club heads. A video on Four Diamonds was played, and a guest family, whose youngest child went through cancer treatment, came to speak on how Four Diamonds and fundraising like MT’s helped them.
After the opening assembly, the night had its first of three class games. Ten members from the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior classes were selected for dodgeball. The seniors defeated the freshmen in the opening game and the junior class in the finale to emerge victorious from the class game. The junior class had previously defeated the sophomore class to advance and play the seniors.
Once the dodgeball games concluded, there was an hour and a half break with the same activities in the cafeteria and South Gym and the first Techno Power Hour in the North Gym. The Techno Power Hour was a dance held in darkness and illuminated by flashing lights and glow sticks, although attendance dwindled after the first couple of songs. Also in the arena, along with basketball, was a Zumba class.
Students were once again called back to the arena to participate in the next class game: Hungry Hungry Hippos. Similar to the board game, the objective for each “hippo” is to gather as many balls, in this case balloons, possible in the short time frame. The “hippos” were four teams of two people each, one steering and the other laying down and gathering balloons with a floor roller and a bucket. The game lasted for around 30 minutes, getting cheers from the audience as well as expressions of dismay at some of the calls by the Mini-THON heads, who officiated the activity.
The night then went back to intermission with cafeteria games, South Gym inflatables, the second Techno Power Hour, and basketball in the arena.
With the last call back to the arena came the closing activities of the night. There was a final class game, Tug-O-War, followed by a luminary walk in silence. The walk served as an opportunity for students to remember and honor the legacy of loved ones with or lost to cancer. After the walk, another Four Diamonds patient spoke on his treatment and road to recovery, highlighting the help the organization provided for home and his family.
The night ended with raffle ticket prizes and a final Mini-THON-themed dance, wrapping up the whole main event at 11 pm.
