This year, MT Mini-THON raised over $70,000 with their events. This money could not be raised without people across the community donating on DonorDrive, attending the Snowball dance, or going to the Mini-THON Showcase. And these events couldn’t have happened without MT’s Mini-THON heads: Marina Papadimitriou, Gabby Romano, Jocelyn Parise and Shelby Whittaker.
Papadimitriou is a senior and joined Mini-THON in middle school because of the cause and the environment it brings to the school.
“My favorite part about this club is that it enables school culture to thrive,” she said.
Whittaker joined the Mini-THON design team in her junior year and designed the Crush Cancer theme for the 2023 main event. She loves the Showcase in January and seeing the sports teams perform because she thinks it’s a great way to get people excited for the main event. Whittaker enjoys the main event not only because it raises awareness for childhood cancer but also because it showcases how hard the advisors and heads have worked throughout the year.
Parise, a junior, has been a part of Mini-THON since seventh grade and a chair member since eighth grade. Parise wanted the opportunity to help other families going through cancer treatment after losing her father to cancer.
“Having to watch your dad go through chemo, surgeries, and just battle cancer in general is not an easy thing and I can’t imagine how much worse that has to be for a parent watching their child,” said Parise.
Parise’s favorite part about the organization is the ability to meet pediatric patients and hear their stories because it motivates her to keep fundraising and reminds her why she is a part of this organization. She also loves seeing people have fun at Powderpuff games and the main event.
The final Mini-THON head is Romano. Romano has been involved in Mini-THON almost her entire life through her family’s involvement in Penn State’s THON.
“It’s just something so important for everyone to know about and try to help these families deal with the most difficult time of their life,” said Romano.
Her favorite part about Mini-THON is seeing how much fun everyone has at the main event because of how much work they put into it throughout the school year.
“I just want to say how proud and thankful I am for everyone who was a part of Mini-THON this year,” she said. “This year was a restart for us. And I’m so thankful to everyone who worked hard either as a head or a committee member, or anyone who attended our many fundraisers.”
