Suzanne Graney knows as well as anyone the impact Penn State’s THON has had over its five decades of working to conquer pediatric cancer.
As executive director of Four Diamonds at Penn State Health Children’s hospital, the sole beneficiary of the student-run philanthropy since 1977, for the past the 13 years, Graney has heard countless stories from families who have been lifted up during the most difficult of times and who have not had to worry about how they would pay for their child’s care thanks to the efforts of THON. Those efforts have raised more than $236 million and ensure, among other things, that none of the 4,800 Four Diamonds families have received a bill.
“It is such a beautiful gift to be able to take that pressure away from a family and at times away from the patient,” Graney said. “If you’re a teenager, you may have an understanding of what the financial implications of a cancer diagnosis could be. One of the most impactful stories I heard from a family was a teenager who felt guilty that he had cancer, because he knew what it would mean for them financially. So the gift of the money that is raised through THON and allocated through Four Diamonds, not only took that financial pressure away from parents, but it took it away from the actual child who was fighting cancer.
“That’s an extraordinary gift to be able to remove that extra stress because it’s already a stressful situation.”
The year-round work of more than 16,500 student volunteers to support those families culminates with THON weekend, the 46-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon that kicked off at 6 p.m. Friday in the Bryce Jordan Center and will conclude at 4 p.m. Sunday with the big reveal of this year’s fundraising total. Each of the past three years has set a record total, with last year’s topping $16.9 million.
It starts in the summer when THON begins its fundraising and continues through the fall with events like Harvest Day, the THON 5K and the Family Carnival. Between the 5K and the 100 Days Til THON celebration, the organization runs the Dream Forward campaign, which raised a record $1.9 million this year.
Everything leads up to THON weekend: a celebration, a reunion and a reminder of what it’s all for, filled with music, entertainment and myriad traditions both fun and moving. This year’s theme is “A Home for Hope,” a description embodying the spirit of THON, Four Diamonds and what the Jordan Center becomes for those 46 hours.
“As an organization, we are so proud to continue creating a home for hope for our families, volunteers, alumni and supporters, where people have the freedom to dream, inspire and incite passion for a future without childhood cancer, alongside our sole beneficiary, Four Diamonds at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital,” Kaitlyn Wolfe, THON 2025 public relations director and a Penn State senior, said. “This year’s celebration of hope serves for a better, brighter future, filled with stories of our families, volunteers and supporters reaching important milestones in their lives.”
Hope is what Charles and Irma Millard aimed to bring to other families after they lost their son Christopher to cancer in 1972 at the age of 14. Inspired by the help they received from The Jimmy Fund in Boston, they established a charitable fund at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital and gave it the name of a fantasy short story Christopher had written before he died, in which the Four Diamonds of courage, wisdom, honesty and strength represented the virtues he believed were needed to battle cancer.
After Charles Millard passed away in 2021, Stacia Millard Bird continues on the legacy of her parents and her brother, staying involved and attending every THON weekend, just as her father had until his death.
“It was the day that he looked forward to his whole life. It was getting to THON every year. That was the thing for him every year,” Bird said. “And so now it gets to be a thing for me too and bringing my family now. It’s just humbling. I don’t have enough words to explain it. It’s just beautiful. It’s amazing. And to see what’s getting done and what’s growing out of it, it’s amazing.
“The money is necessary and it’s doing all these fantastic things saving lives and looking for a cure, but it’s doing something even beyond that. To see all all these students and who they become as people it’s it’s amazing.”
THON’s efforts have not only paid the bills for patients’ care; they’ve helped expand the ways care can be provided. In the past decade the fundraising has supported the implementation of a Survivorship Clinic to provide personalized plans of care for every child, genetic testing and counseling, a pediatric oncology fellowship program and expanded specialty care services such as art therapy, a parents’ mentoring program and more.
“We’re able to fund the roles of more than 30 specialty care providers.They are providing therapeutic services that are clinically proven to increase the likelihood of a successful fight against cancer. Those therapists are with our kiddos every day,” Graney said. “Child life specialists are helping to explain what cancer is and how treatments will proceed at an individual level. How you explain to a 3-year-old what’s coming up is very different than how you might explain it to a 13-year-old, and we have tools available and resources available and that staff available because of THON’s steady support of Four Diamonds.
The funds have also helped expand Penn State’s pediatric cancer research enterprise, the most critical tool in the fight. For example, Graney said, the children’s hospital has long participated in clinical trials, but for the first time last fall, two pediatric oncology clinical trials initiated and led by Penn State opened there.
“What we know is all the best care in the world doesn’t lead us to a day without cancer,” Graney said. “Only research is going to lead us to that day. And we have such an amazing opportunity through our partnership with THON to be able to invest in research, looking for answers to why cancer happens to begin with. How could it be prevented? Why do some people respond to what is called a standard of care of treatment, but not everybody? How can we find ways to help the percentage of patients who are relapsing, who are not responding to a traditional therapy, to also have hope?
“Hope is what THON provides through the funding that they provide to us that is taking care of the cost of care and those specialty providers, but the biggest area of hope that they are providing is through funding for research. That is what will ultimately lead us to a cure.”
