HERSHEY, Pa. — Tens of thousands of students across Pennsylvania and in surrounding states are joining the fight to conquer childhood cancer. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic causing the cancellation of many Mini-THON events, 90,000 student volunteers raised $5,705,748 for Four Diamonds at Penn State Children’s Hospital during the 2019-20 school year. The fundraising total was announced this morning at the virtual Mini-THON Leadership Summit.

Mini-THONs are multi-hour, interactive events modeled after the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, or THON, held each year at University Park. The money raised benefits Four Diamonds, which assists families with children being treated for cancer at Penn State Children’s Hospital. Money supports the families through world-class care and financial support, as well as ground-breaking research for new treatments and cures for all childhood cancers.

Each year, the Mini-THON Leadership Summit brings together student leaders and advisors to celebrate successes, network and collaborate as they organize Mini-THON events for the coming year. Speakers at this year’s virtual summit included Four Diamonds co-founders Charles and Irma Millard and a Four Diamonds family.

“This year showed us, once again, that the young leaders who join the Four Diamonds mission to conquer childhood cancer are motivated and resilient,” said Kristen Masengarb, director of the Four Diamonds Mini-THON program. “It’s rewarding for us to see their commitment to supporting our program and our Four Diamonds families.”

Those who attended Friday’s summit represent the 90,000 students who participated in Mini-THONs at more than 290 schools in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia during the 2019-20 school year.

For more information about Mini-THON visit http://www.fourdiamonds.org/mini-thon.