Students at Pleasant Valley High School raised $13,361.60 at their annual Mini-THON on Saturday and Sunday.

A total of 185 students in ninth through twelfth grades danced the night away from 7 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday in the high school gymnasium for the 12-hour event.

Senior Kassidy Shupp, a co-executive chair of the event, said every dollar raised goes to Four Diamonds, which is a nonprofit fund created in 1972 to distribute money raised through the THON events at Penn State University to families of children fighting cancer at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital in Hershey. The funds also go toward cancer research at Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine. Mini-THON is an extension of the THON fundraisers.

“Their efforts are the single-handed provider of specialists, such as a child psychologist, chaplain, social workers, and music therapists,” Shupp said. “By far, it’s the most far-reaching of the endeavors of Four Diamonds is the sponsoring of groundbreaking cancer research.”

Shupp has been involved with Mini-THON for seven years and part of the leadership team for five years. This year, she was named to the Mini-THON Student Leadership Council.

“When I was first introduced to Mini-THON as a sixth grader, I saw it as an opportunity to become a part of a community devoted to conquering childhood cancer,” she said. “From the very beginning, I knew it would lead me on a journey of meeting many new people and advocating for a cause that unfortunately hits home for many families.”

Shupp shares the co-executive chair position with Caia Harris, who is also a senior.

“It has been an honor to serve as this year’s co-executive chair,” Shupp said. “The best part of my position was watching people realize that they too wanted to be part of the Mini-THON community and I was one of the people that got to foster the beginning of their journey.”

Harris has also been involved in Mini-THON for almost seven years. She said she got involved because she has family members who have survived cancer.

“I participate to honor them and their fight,” Harris said.

She also participates because she wanted to be part of something important.

“I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. To make sure no kid with childhood cancer has to fight alone, and their parent do not have to worry about affording treatment,” she said.

Harris said working on make Mini-THON is a lot of work, but knowing they are working to fight cancer “makes all the work worth it,” she said.

Elizabeth “Beth” Gesualdi, a teacher and the students’ adviser for the event, called the work rewarding.

“PVHS Mini-THON has been one of the most rewarding parts of my time at Pleasant Valley,” Gesualdi said. This is her last Mini-THON at Pleasant Valley, because she will be leaving the district at the end of the school year.

“Students demonstrate so many of the skills that are taught in school and they are doing it for a worthy cause. Childhood cancer has touched so many lives in our community and students want to bring awareness. To see students work together to pull off this event is inspirational. It is my hope that Mini-THON continues to impact students and families in a positive way.”

Shupp said that she thought that her journey with Mini-THON would be ending with this one. She has changed her mind about that.

“I now realize this could not be farther from the truth. The most beautiful aspect of Mini-THON is how it lives on long after you leave high school. At the end of the day, it’s not just an event. It’s building a community, learning how to be a leader, and becoming a part of something much larger than yourself,” Shupp said. “While I am sad that this is my last Mini-THON at Pleasant Valley, the journey is far from over. In fact, it is just the beginning. Together we will dance, together we will stand, and together we will fight for the kids.”

Donations can still be made and anyone can donate. Just go to the Donor Drive link at https://bit.ly/41CLBwY. Information is also available there about Mini-THONS and Four Diamonds.