web1_sem_han3_faa.jpg

Local Roundup: Wyoming Seminary clinches Division 3 boys basketball title

web1_TTL020919recycle1.jpg

Waste of time? Market decline, glut of unusable products threaten recycling programs

<p>LEHMAN TWP. &#8211; Ashlee Harry and Eric Williams will travel to State College on Friday for the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon.</p><p>It won&#8217;t be the first trip for either of them to the 46-hour event held at Penn State&#8217;s Bryce Jordan Center, commonly know as THON.</p><p>In fact, Williams was quick to point out he was in the stands for 36 straight hours one year.</p><p>But next weekend&#8217;s trip will be a little different for the two Penn State Wilkes-Barre seniors. The two will represent their campus as dancers, the first time either has done that.</p><p>&#8220;It hasn&#8217;t hit me yet because I have so many fundraisers I have to plan still,&#8221; Harry said last week at a meet-the-dancers event at Penn State Wilkes-Barre. &#8220;But I think in the back of my mind, it&#8217;s like I have to be standing for 46 hours.</p><p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t sit down. I can&#8217;t sleep.&#8221;</p><p>The two aren&#8217;t quite sure what to expect from the experience.</p><p>&#8220;It was one thing to be a supporter and get to leave and go back to the hotel and rest for a little bit,&#8221; said Harry, who also serves as THON chair at the campus. &#8220;But to think I&#8217;m going to be there &#8230; I think we have to run through the human tunnel at 3:15 on Friday and we are not leaving the BJC until 4 p.m. on Sunday.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s kind of like weird to think about.&#8221;</p><p>THON raises money to support Four Diamonds at Penn State Children&#8217;s Hospital in Hershey.</p><p>Fundraising events are held throughout the year, culminating with the dance marathon. According to the organization&#8217;s website, &#8220;the funds raised by THON cover not only treatment costs for more than 4,000 children, but also support innovative research to go beyond the boundaries of Pennsylvania and touch the lives of families affected by childhood cancer everywhere.&#8221;</p><p>Harry, Williams and the Penn State Wilkes-Barre THON organization have been hosting a series of fundraisers leading up to this weekend&#8217;s event, including a skate-a-thon, a zombie 5K, a pasta thon and a raffle for a Nittany Lion statue.</p><p>The organization needed to raise at least $2,800 to guarantee the two a spot in THON, but Harry has her goal set much higher.</p><p>Each year, Penn State Wilkes-Barre tries to raise more money than the previous year. Last year, the campus raised $9,000. So this year, Harry said, she hopes to raise $12,000. As of the last week of January, they were halfway to their goal with $6,000.</p><p>Both Harry, of Edwardsville, and Williams, of Laflin, got involved with the charitable organization through friends.</p><p>&#8220;My friend came up to me in the cafeteria and said, &#8216;Hey, you going to THON?&#8217; and I said &#8216;What&#8217;s THON?&#8217;&#8221; recalled Williams.</p><p>And off to his first THON he went, spending those 36 straight hours in the stands and leaving the Bryce Jordan Center in good spirits.</p><p>&#8220;I felt really good,&#8221; Williams said of his first trip to THON his freshman year. &#8220;Everyone said I slept on the bus ride home, but I don&#8217;t remember it because I remember talking to everyone. But apparently I feel asleep.</p><p>&#8220;It was a good time.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Impact of THON</strong></p><p>Tina Jezuit&#8217;s experience with THON and the Four Diamonds organization is a bit different from Williams and Harry&#8217;s, but she knows just what impact it can have on a family.</p><p>The 42-year-old Jessup woman was diagnosed with cancer at age 11. After being diagnosed, Jezuit was sent to the Hersey Medical Center for treatment.</p><p>She said after 10 days in the hospital, her family received a phone call in her hospital room asking her parents to come down to the office. They were given a bill for treatment that she said &#8220;was a crazy amount.&#8221;</p><p>Then they were told not to worry about it, that it was &#8220;taken care of&#8221; by the Four Diamonds.</p><p>&#8220;That was amazing,&#8221; Jezuit said. &#8220;It was such a gift.&#8221;</p><p>Jezuit added that the only condition for Four Diamonds&#8217; generosity was that she was a child with cancer.</p><p>&#8220;They don&#8217;t question your income, your assets or anything,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Jezuit went through 14 months of chemotherapy and five surgeries and suffered many latent effects, including heart failure and a massive stroke. But as of Oct. 12, 2018, she has been cancer free for 30 years.</p><p>She said did not attend her first THON until she was 23 or 24 years old because when she was young, her main goal &#8220;was to be normal.&#8221;</p><p>These days, however, she goes every few years and plans to be their next weekend.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think it compares to anything else,&#8221; Jezuit said.</p><p>Jezuit has also repaid the generosity she received as a child. With her sister in 2008, she formed the nonprofit Cancertacular, which strives to increase awareness of childhood cancer and support those children and their families who are fighting the disease.</p><p>Then, in 2015, she formed Jenny&#8217;s Kloset in honor of a fellow Four Diamonds child who was going through treatment when Jezuit was. Jenny was a 4-year-old with leukemia who lost her battle.</p><p>Jenny&#8217;s Kloset, under the umbrella of Cancertacular, strives to fulfill essential needs of children attending Valley View School District schools.</p><p>It was through Jenny&#8217;s Kloset that Jezuit met Harry. Harry and the THON club at Penn State Wilkes-Barre collected food for Jenny&#8217;s Kloset. Jezuit said Harry continued to collect food for the organization even after the drive ended, delivering an additional two cars full of supplies to Valley View High School.</p><p><strong>&#8216;Pretty incredible&#8217;</strong></p><p>Jezuit&#8217;s family is just one of many that THON has helped through the years.</p><p>THON is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. It was founded in 1973 and since 1977, it has been raising funds for the Four Diamonds organization.</p><p>In 2018, THON raised $10,151,663.93, hiking its 45-year total to more than $157 million.</p><p>&#8220;During the entire weekend, families come up and tell their story,&#8221; Harry said.</p><p>&#8220;I actually tell my organization that going down to THON, you get to see what you are raising money for.&#8221;</p><p>Unlike many charities, the large majority of the money collected goes to those it is supposed to help. According to the THON website, 95.11 cents of every dollar raised benefits Four Diamonds.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve never seen (anything like it),&#8221; Harry said of the dance marathon. &#8220;I know we are the largest run student philanthropy in the world, and you can kind of tell when you go down there. This year, there are 708 dancers on the floor, and that&#8217;s just on the floor, that doesn&#8217;t include everybody in the stands.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s going to be pretty incredible.&#8221;</p><p>So leading up to Friday, Harry and Williams will be trying to make sure they get enough sleep, eat right and are ready to take to the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center for 46 straight hours.</p><p>Then?</p><p>&#8220;I plan to sleep on Monday,&#8221; Harry said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve already told people if you see me here on campus the day after THON, there is something mentally wrong with me. I think I&#8217;m going to be passing out in my dad&#8217;s truck (on the way home), and hoping that I get to my bed at some point.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if I&#8217;m going to be carried there or if I&#8217;m going to walk there, but I don&#8217;t intend to be here on Monday.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL012919thon3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jackie Warnick-Piatt, the student activities director at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, writes a letter to Ashlee Harry for THON.</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL012919thon3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Jackie Warnick-Piatt, the student activities director at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, writes a letter to Ashlee Harry for THON.</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL012919thon1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">THON dancer Eric Williams jokingly covers his can as Thomas Piatt attempts to add money to it and fellow dancer Ashlee Harry looks on during a &#8216;Penny Wars&#8217; event at Penn State Wilkes-Barre last month. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL012919thon1.jpg</photo1><caption1>THON dancer Eric Williams jokingly covers his can as Thomas Piatt attempts to add money to it and fellow dancer Ashlee Harry looks on during a &#8216;Penny Wars&#8217; event at Penn State Wilkes-Barre last month. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL012919thon2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ashlee Harry and Eric Williams discuss representing Penn State Wilkes-Barre as dancers at THON this year. It will be the first time either of the two students have danced at THON. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL012919thon2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Ashlee Harry and Eric Williams discuss representing Penn State Wilkes-Barre as dancers at THON this year. It will be the first time either of the two students have danced at THON. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL012919thon5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ashlee Harry checks out the lineup of cans for a fundraiser for the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon at Penn State Wilkes-Barre last month. Harry will represent the campus at the event as a dancer, beginning Friday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL012919thon5.jpg</photo3><caption3>Ashlee Harry checks out the lineup of cans for a fundraiser for the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon at Penn State Wilkes-Barre last month. Harry will represent the campus at the event as a dancer, beginning Friday. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_AP_18049012771233CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Carnell Bates, 7, squirts Samir Norton, 7, as he gets a ride on the shoulders of a dancer during the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon in State College last year. Samir is a Four Diamonds child. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_AP_18049012771233CMYK.jpg</photo4><caption4>Carnell Bates, 7, squirts Samir Norton, 7, as he gets a ride on the shoulders of a dancer during the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon in State College last year. Samir is a Four Diamonds child. </caption4><photoCredit4>AP photo </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Soprano</p><p>jsoprano@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>TO DONATE</strong></p><p>Go to www.facebook.com/PSWBBenefitingTHON and click on the Donate button.</p><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p>What: THON</p><p>Where: Bryce Jordan Center, State College</p><p>When: 6 p.m. Friday through 4 p.m. Sunday</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Soprano at 570-991-6393 or on Twitter @TLnews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

web1_AP_18049012771233CMYK.jpg

web1_TTL012919thon3.jpg

web1_TTL012919thon1.jpg

web1_TTL012919thon2.jpg

web1_TTL012919thon5.jpg

Penn State WB students prepping for 46-hour dance marathon