Embracing Dreams and Sharing Tomorrow - THON 2005
When you dance with your heart, your feet never touch the ground.
This year the Health Policy and Administration Club was given the honor and privilege of adopting a THON child. Her name is Aiyana Perez, a spirited, adorable 5 year old girl with sparkling eyes and a captivating smile. Although this is the first year we have had our own child, the HPA club’s THON committee has given years of support to the Four Diamonds Fund. Having a child makes the THON experience more meaningful!
What our THON committee did in preparation for THON: We canned in the cold, were kicked off street corners, sent solicitation letters to hundreds of family, friends and faculty, and stood on our feet for 48 hours straight – all in the name of THON. We fundraised this past year in Lebanon, Ohio and Virginia, raising a total of $5,500 (with THON raising over $4.1 million). Most memorably, though, we’ve made special visits to Hershey Medical Center.
On the THON committee’s first trip to Hershey, we toured the site and had the opportunity to speak to a family with a child affected by cancer. Stephanie Perez explained the heartbreaking story of her daughter, Aiyana. We asked if they were involved with a THON family; to our luck they were not! We immediately let the Four Diamonds Fund coordinator know that we were interested in adopting Aiyana into our own family—the HPA family.
THON Committee: Sarah Ayers, Erin Kirkpatrick, RJ Morgan, Heidi Gregory, Brianne Conti, Genevieve Gramatica, Bess Werner, and Marissa White
After a long canning weekend, the week before THON, we stopped in Hershey for our last visit before Aiyana received her bone marrow transplant. The THON committee put together a welcome care package for the family including gift certificates and PSU t-shirts for the parents, toys for Aiyana’s siblings, and an assortment of Aiyana’s favorite things – Dora the Explorer, coloring books, and anything purple.
This time spent with Aiyana boosted the morale and courage of our four dancers. When asked how they got through the 48 hours, one replied, “Our THON chair brought us a laminated picture of Aiyana to pin to our shirts. Every time I felt weak or tired, I looked at her picture. Her eyes gave me strength.” We are looking forward to visiting Aiyana again as soon as possible. Currently, we are collecting pictures and items from THON to make a scrap book for the family.
Dancers: Marissa White, Genevieve Gramatica, Brianne Conti, and Bess Werner
We hope to support Aiyana and her family for years to come. But most importantly, we hope to beat childhood cancer once and for all!
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Story by: Marissa White (dancer) and Erin Kirkpatrick (THON co-chair). For more information on THON visit www.thon.org