Written by Bella Lennon, Angela Ramirez, and Barbara Price

For this spotlight blog, we have Angela Savino, who is a Special Events Supply Logistics Liaison for THON™ 2024. Although she is a first-year captain, she has previous committee member involvement in both Special Events and Dancer Relations. On Special Events students who are studying abroad, graduating early, or dancing are able to join a committee. After meeting her committee, Savino adored all of them and was proud to have them, even with some of her committee members leaving this semester to study abroad. She started with 27 committee members, but with all the possibilities from above she will have a committee of 18 going into THON Weekend! Her committee has come up with the name “dANGer Zone” for themselves with a capitalization on the ANG for Angela. Now prior to THON Weekend, Savino has a very important role in recording all the supplies her co-captains need for all the events throughout the year. Some of these events include the THON 5K powered by PNC, 100 Days ‘til THON, THON Showcase, Hair Donation, and Family Carnival, to name a few. During THON Weekend Savino and the entire Special Events committee will be very busy with helping other committees and moving supplies around the Bryce Jordan Center for Pep Rally, Athlete Hour, and stage Hair Donation. She works very closely with the Supply Logistics committee and more specifically their Inventory Coordinator and Inventory Liaison to coordinate the pickup, drop-off, and distribution of the needed supplies for each event, so that each event will run smoothly. She is so appreciative of all the captains she gets to work with, but especially being able to work closely with Heidi and Ryan on Supply Logistics.  

When asked “why do you THON” Savino explained, “Not being from PA, I had no idea what THON was when I got here. I applied on a whim and knew right away it was the best decision I had ever made. The mission of THON and the idea that as an individual college student, that I could be easing just a little bit of stress from a family suffering from something as horrible as childhood cancer, is quite literally one of the best feelings ever. Knowing that everyone involved voluntarily works so hard to raise money and awareness to ensure that these families who are going through such a hard time do not have to see a bill and have endless resources at their disposal so that they only have to focus on the welfare of their child and family is incredible; and I am so proud to say I am a part of this organization. What I love about THON is it is a community, and the people you work beside are sweetest and most understanding people that have become some of my best friends through my 3 years here at Penn State.”  Savino’s favorite memory from THON was very hard to pick for her because she has loved every minute of the past two THON’s she has attended, but if she had to pick one, she would choose the hour during Final Four that the band GOGO Retro blasted songs to keep everyone up on their feet and amped for the Total Reveal to come. Everyone was filled with adrenaline from being tired and hearing the band caused dancers and volunteers to feel the love and use every bit of strength they had to power through the last couple of hours. 

Special Events is very important to Savino, because they get to plan and execute THON events year-round and not just THON Weekend. She loves that she gets to have a hand in the facilitation of every single event that occurs. Also, she is thankful for the chance to work with her amazing co-captains and her entire committee. Special Events is now focusing on making the supplies more sustainable with all pre-THON events out of the way. 

There are so many different aspects of THON Weekend 2024 that Savino is excited for. These include being able to see how things run behind the scenes, cheering on her committee members, and having her parents come so she can show them the true experience of the weekend and how it plays such an important role in her life and the lives of each Four Diamonds child. 

Featured Image: Courtesy of Angela Savino