There are endless ways to get involved in THON™. Whether through special interest orgs, internal committees, or Greek organizations, every role in the THON community provides a different experience and an equally important opportunity to contribute to THON’s mission.
This week, we will be highlighting Phi Sigma Sigma (Phi Sig), a Greek organization here at Penn State. We talked with their Primary THON Chair, Danielle Hughes, to showcase Phi Sig’s THON story and their role in the community.
Q: Can you tell me a little bit about Phi Sig and its role in THON?
Danielle: “We have one paired family as of right now, The Lydia Hess Family. Our main goal is to keep them involved and provide as much support as we can to Lydia and her family. We also keep them updated on events they can come to and foster that relationship with them as the years go on. We also have dancers on the floor during THON Weekend and do fundraisers all year long. We really try and keep our members involved and influence them to get as involved as they can. I always encourage them to get involved because I know everyone has a story of why they THON, and I want them to share that story. We have so many members that are also committee members or captains, which is super cool.”
Q: Are there any specific fundraisers or events Phi Sig hosts each year?
Danielle: “One of our favorites is when everyone comes back from summer break. We do a barbeque with our partner AGR, and we have cornhole and spike ball tournaments. People pay to be a part of the tournaments, and if you win, you get the money credited to your donor drive. It is one of my personal favorite events of the year because everyone is just coming back from break and is excited to see each other. In the beginning of the year, we also do Pie in the Face! Then, normally in January, we do a food eating contest. We normally do a few different rounds with hot dogs and then chicken nuggets. This event gets a really good turnout, especially from people coming to watch because it is pretty funny! We also do a few smaller events throughout the year like pictures with Santa on the HUB lawn and breakfast sandwich sales around Halloween.”
Q: Can you share a little bit about your family?
Danielle: We have one family, the Lydia Hess family. Lydia is now nine years cancer-free! She is currently in high school and has an older brother that is also in high school. They are both into music and perform in the marching band together and take piano lessons. They also have a little brother, Silas, who is in elementary school. Whenever they come to THON Weekend or we do an event with them, he is always running around and entertaining everyone. I think it’s really important to include the siblings because cancer does not just affect the child, it affects the entire family. I love having events for them that the entire family can enjoy. Lydia’s parents are extremely busy with three kids, so we are currently working on plans to spend some time with them this fall, and they will hopefully come up for the THON hockey game! I’ve known the Hesses my entire college experience, so it has been really cool to grow with them.”
Q: What are your goals for THON 2026?
Danielle: “We are looking to improve engagement and keep the morale up because THON is so much more than just the weekend in February. We’ve been trying to get creative and think of new events to hold. I also created a new position on our THON committee, called Sisterhood Involvement. The main role of this new position is to think of new ways to involve the chapter, encourage people to come to events, and share events on social media. Involvement is my number one goal for the year and to get people excited! We also want to keep fundraising up throughout the whole year.”
Q: What message would you share with other students or supporters who want to get involved?
Danielle: “I think it is so awesome that there are so many different ways for everyone to get involved. There is a place for everyone. If you have any sort of interest in getting involved, definitely do it. Look into it, there are so many resources out there about THON. Most people on campus are involved, so if you were to bring it up in conversation, I’m sure someone has a story to tell or resources to share. I think it’s just such an awesome community that we’ve built here.”
To ensure that THON is able to donate 96 cents of every dollar raised to Four Diamonds at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, we heavily rely on donor support. These donations provide us the resources to create endless memories for our Four Diamonds families & foster a deep love & connection to our mission for our volunteers through Pre-THON Events, alternative fundraisers, & THON Weekend.
