Hamburg’s first Mini-THON took place at the Hamburg Area High School on Saturday, April 18. Going into the student run and organized event, the goal was to raise $5,000 with all proceeds directly benefiting the Four Diamonds Fund. At the time of the interview with junior Hannah Schreffler, who brought the event to Hamburg, the event raised just shy of $6,300.
“It feels amazing to be that far over our goal of $5,000 for our first year,” said Schreffler. “It’s an indescribable feeling to know that our community can raise that much money for such an important cause.”
The Four Diamonds Fund provides financial assistance, research and support to all pediatric cancer patients and their families.
Throughout the 12-hour event, the overall turnout for the day was about 70 to 80 people with special time open to the community while the rest of the event was for middle and high school students.
Located in rooms throughout the school were games and activities such as dodgeball, soccer, wheelbarrow races, Simon Says, Twister, dance games, card games, board games and more.
“My favorite part of the event were some of the sports we had,” said Schreffler. “Our teacher volunteer who organized a few of the tournaments, Mr. Kline, made each tournament competitive and excitable. The other part I liked was the DJ. It was great to have live music and dance around for the last few hours to keep spirits up.”
Walking through the halls and in the classrooms were students dressed in light blue special event shirts laughing, dancing and smiling while participating in the various activities. Though the event began with students at the high school, it quickly became district-wide with students at all four schools helping to raise funds in various ways. Schreffler, the teacher advisors and the committee hope to make this an annual event at Hamburg.
“I did ask students and community members who attended what they thought of the event and everyone I talked to had said they really enjoyed the event and were excited for next years,” said Schreffler. “Next year, the major thing we plan to do differently is to have the event overnight, specifically from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. or 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.”
This year’s event ran from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
One of the special moments of the day came from the Lesniak family.
“The Lesniak family graciously came in to talk about their story with Four Diamonds and what Mini-THON means to them. It was emotional and I felt it impacted the students and reminded them of why we were doing the event in the first place,” said Schreffler.
From the student and community reactions and the funds raised, Hamburg’s first Mini-THON was a huge success and everyone is ready to start thinking about next year’s.
Mini-THON Committee members with Schreffler were Abbie Smith, Avery Werley, Chyanne Lesher, Cory Smith, Eileen Deisemann, Esmeralda Klahr, Kayla Stambaugh, Kaylah Lenhart, Lily Balousek, Logan Dougherty, Melanie Haas, Meredith Browder, Meredith Roth, Morgan Krick, Olivia Essig, Riley Ecker, Sarah Hanlon and Tara Maloney.
