Several Lebanon County residents were among the hundreds of student dancers that took over the Bryce Jordan Center in State College to help raise money for THON, the world’s largest student-run philanthropy raising money to help families impacted by childhood cancer.
The 46-hour marathon started Friday night, and participating dancers were not able to sit or sleep until Sunday afternoon.
Read More: Lebanon Countians to raise money for childhood cancer by dancing in THON
THON culminated with this year’s reveal of the total — $17,737,040.93. It broke 2024’s record of $16,955,683.63.
Racheal Wildonger, a senior studying nursing at Penn State’s University Park campus, said she was nominated to be a dancer to represent her club swimming team.
Dancers met in the football practice building to get their t-shirts and bibs.
“It just hit me that this is happening, I’m about to do this 46 hours,” Wildonger said. “I got a rush of energy, and we got our shirts on, and then we walked through the human tunnel, and all of the parents, the students, the families out there cheering us on as we walked through. I couldn’t even describe how much that meant to me.”
She said she took all the time she could on the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center stretching and enjoying her last few minutes of sitting. Then, the building counted down, and they all stood.
Throughout the weekend, dancers and visitors in the stadium could enjoy several performances. There’s almost always music playing, but they also have activities with the Four Diamonds families and children.
Wildonger said her favorite parts were the national act, where rock band The Fray surprised State College, and interacting with one of the families she was representing.
“They embraced us all in a hug and gave me a lift of energy and encouraging thoughts, and I knew that I could make it after just seeing them and talking to them,” she said.
And with 46 hours of no sitting or sleeping, she needed the encouragement.
She said it was early Sunday morning when she started struggling. She was tired, having not slept since Friday, but her community helped pull her through it.
“My family was down with me, the amount of inspiring letters that I got, it just helped me get that boost that I can do this,” Wildonger said. “It’s also an amazing cause, and I can get through it. It’s only what, 10 more hours? I got it.”
When the $17.7 million total was revealed, she said she was brought to tears.
Dancer Morgan Spagnolo, a senior studying biobehavioral health, said the amount of money raised made all of her exhaustion and pain “go out the window.”
“I don’t even know how to put it into words,” she said, her voice still hoarse even after several days of recovery. “I’m so proud of the whole community and just the fact that everyone comes together for this amazing cause and we raised that much money, to think of all the lives that are going to be impacted in a good way really just makes it all worth it.”
Spagnolo also said she hit a wall Sunday morning. She and her dance partner Molly finally started to feel fatigued, and Spagnolo “fell asleep standing” while trying to take laps to stay awake.
Like Wildonger, the strength of the community around her kept her going.
“I was thinking back to the kids and the families. All these little kids, they fought for so long,” Spagnolo said. “Also friends and family of mine wrote letters, so whenever I was feeling down, I went back and read them and they made me cry.”
Cassady Wallace, a junior studying kinesiology, represented the Penn State Berks campus.
She said there were “so many” favorite moments throughout the weekend, including the upbeat music and the more somber “family hour.”
“Families got to share their stories and they played a video of all of our angels, which was very sad, but it was one of my favorites because I think it touched everyone there,” Wallace said.
Though fun, Wallace’s experience was extra challenging. She said she started to feel sick after a meal, so she was dealing with nausea on top of the pain and exhaustion.
THON has athletic trainers in the building who are available to provide medical attention to the dancers. Wallace said she visited them for ice baths for her feet and to have her legs taped.
She said she was constantly reminding herself who the weekend was actually for.
“I would text my mom and she would send me a paragraph saying remember who you’re fighting for, remember why you’re doing this,” she said. “I thought in the back of my mind that yeah, this is 46 hours, but the kids that we’re fighting for have been doing this for much longer than that. If they can do it, I can do it.”
Similar to the other dancers, she was ecstatic when the total was revealed at the end.
“I got a video of it,” she said. “You can just hear me in the background screaming my head off. It was such a relief knowing that all of our hard work really paid off.”
Wildonger, Spagnolo, and Wallace have all spent the start of the following week recovering. Spagnolo had the record for the longest sleep out of the three with 19 hours straight.
They’ve also been resting their legs after a weekend on their feet. Wildonger said she’s relaxing in preparation for festivities still to come.
“One day we will dance in celebration of the cure, and I cannot wait for that moment,” she said.
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