South Fayette holds Mini-THON to raise money for cancer relief
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
A poster on the wall at South Fayette High School during its Mini-THON, which raised money for children with pediatric cancer and their families
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
Students playing games in South Fayette High School’s gym during its Mini-THON April 29.
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
Maggie Borgesi, left, and Reagan McLaughlin, both freshmen at South Fayette High School, at the Mini-THON
As the evening of April 29 began, there were a lot of students in the South Fayette High School gym who were very, very energized.
By Saturday morning, a lot of those students were surely very, very tired.
They were at the school for its 10th annual Mini-THON, an overnight, 12-hour marathon to raise funds for Four Diamonds, the nonprofit organization that helps children with pediatric cancer and their families. South Fayette’s Mini-THON is modeled after a similar marathon that students at Penn State University have every year. Between its start at 6 p.m. Friday and conclusion the following morning, students could not only dance with friends but also play games, eat food and more.
This year was the first time since 2019 that South Fayette High School had a full-scale Mini-THON. Last year, as the pandemic continued, a smaller version took place that was limited to seniors only. About 600 students were due to be there, according to Brandon Flannery, a business teacher at the high school and a faculty adviser for the Mini-THON. That works out to a little more than half the student body.
Flannery said part of the value of the Mini-THON is “just watching (the students) being able to set a goal and accomplishing it, or working hard to try to meet it.”
It turns out South Fayette students did meet the goal they set. They had hoped to break the school’s single-year fundraising total of $200,000, and they managed it by raising more than $250,000 – $258,365.16, to be precise. The funds came from South Fayette students, teachers and local businesses. The lifetime total of the high school’s Mini-THON is over $1 million.