THON™ Organization Spotlight – Everyday Benefitting THON
by Molly Ligon

Written By: Evan Halfen and Tara Sbordone

As THON Weekend 2023 weekend quickly approaches, we are excited to spotlight some organizations that help fundraise FTK! This spotlight focuses on the organization Everyday Benefitting THON! 

In 2008, Everyday Benefitting THON began its mission to fundraise and raise awareness for Penn State’s very own THON™. The name “Everyday” comes from the idea that every day their club is fighting cancer.  

In addition to fundraising money for pediatric cancer, the org is also a tight-knit community. All of their members are close and consider one another as good friends. They like to bond as an organization, so they grow together through bonding activities such as hikes, picnics, painting pumpkins, and so on.  

The organization’s Outreach Chair Alexis Schleinkofer noted, “While we are a smaller organization, we are all extremely passionate about THON and our THON family, The Cecils. Seeing and interacting with our THON family reinforces our passion to beat childhood cancer so that one day we can dance in celebration of a cure.” 

During the pandemic, the organization managed to keep in touch with their family through zoom, while helping them through those tough times. This experience further motivated the group and reminded them of the true impact and importance of THON.  

The group’s fundraisers have been a huge success over the years with their creative and fun ideas. Some fundraisers they have successfully hosted in the past have included bake sales around the weekend of the White Out Game and around Valentine’s Day, THON Weekend survival kits, holiday rubber duck sales, and merchandise sales. These fundraisers have not only resulted in countless donations towards THON, but they also get Penn State students and faculty hyped for THON Weekend. During the pandemic, they had to think outside of the box and come up with ways to fundraise remotely in an engaging and unique way.  

“We would even do Dare Days where people would donate to member’s DonorDrives to see who would complete a dare,” Schleinkofer shared. “We had digital bingo boards where people would donate a certain amount of money to get said member to do something (like eat a lemon or crack an egg on their head). We also had events (game nights and movie nights) that people could pay to participate in via zoom” 

Through Everyday Benefitting THON’s passion and hard work, they’re able to support their family and thousands of other families who are suffering and drowning in medical bills and continuous trips to the hospital. Their dedication to THON is a prime example of what the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon stands for. 

“We all have one thing in common: we do it for the kids. Every day we fight and every day we hope to get one step closer to a cure,” Schleinkofer expressed.