By midnight on March 9, Terp Thon raised $306,735.45 for Children’s National Medical Center. Donations have continued to come in since the end of the event, leaving the total amount raised at $309,108 as of press for this story.
According to Terp Thon officials at the event, the amount of money raised by University of Maryland students put Terp Thon only 14 places behind Penn State University’s THON dance marathon in terms of fundraising.
The Huffington Post reported that this year “Penn State’s THON dance marathon event raised a record $12.37 million to help families fighting pediatric cancer.”
For Terp Thon to even be compared to THON is something for University of Maryland students to be proud of because Terp Thon is only in its fourth year.
Senior secondary education and history major Jessy Feinberg, recruitment chair for Terp Thon, began her involvement with Terp Thon as a freshman, when Terp Thon was in its first year. She said one of her Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority sister’s encouraged her to get involved.
“The event was nothing impressive to say the least, but still had a strong impact on my decision to commit myself to Terp Thon for the next three years,” Feinberg said.
Throughout the night of March 9, students danced to music played by the DJs, threw around footballs, kicked around soccer balls and socialized with friends – all in order to pass the time.
Twenty Miracle Kids, children who have received treatment from Children’s National Medical Center, provided much needed motivation for the dancers at Terp Thon.
“During the event, I feed off of the energy of the dancers and the kids, especially. If they can get through everything they have in their short lives, then I can get through 12 hours and motivate others to do so, too,” senior American studies and communications major Amy Young said.
Twins Alexander and Tess Theodorakos, who both have cerebral palsy, shared their stories with the dancers. Both children receive treatments at Children’s National Medical Center. Alexander made it clear that the money goes to buying “fun stuff” like toys and games for the patients, and not just medical equipment.
Young was the morale chair for Terp Thon, both this year and the previous year. As morale chair, it was Young’s job to teach all of the dancers a morale dance. At various points in the night, she got up on stage and performed the dance, which was set to a mash-up of different popular songs. Young then attempted to teach the oftentimes-uncoordinated students the dance moves.
In order to keep spirits up toward the end of the evening, Terp Thon featured a Power Hour from 10:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. During Power Hour, volunteers turned off all the arena lights in Cole Field House. Volunteers handed out glow stick bracelets and necklaces, and the DJs played techno music.
A mosh pit formed from the dancers during Power Hour. Dancers raged, dumped water bottles on each other, sat on each other’s shoulders and even crowd surfed.
At the end of the night, dancers and Terp Thon Executive Board members were overcome with emotion because of the amount of money raised.
“Standing on stage, I just remember feeling so proud to be spending a Saturday with fellow Terps and my Executive Board peers doing something so special and incredible for the kids we will probably never meet,” Feinberg said.
According to senior communication major Alysia Cutchis, Terp Thon’s fundraising chair, neither the participants nor the members of Terp Thon Executive Board know how much money has been raised until the reveal. She said for the two weeks leading up to the event, the amount of money is hidden from the fundraising website.
“For those two weeks, my stomach was in knots,” Cutchis said.
For Young, realizing that this year’s Terp Thon hit her the hardest at the end of the night. It was not simply because she would never participate in Terp Thon again as a student, but because she grew together as Terp Thon grew throughout the years.
“I think I cried for three hours straight afterward, but it’s because Terp Thon has changed everything about who I am as a person,” Young said.