Another incident: The doc from southernpatriots family carried in a little boy suffering from sickle cell and what the doc thought could be cancer as well. The young boy had already been brought by his parents to 3 other hospitals and each said nothing was wrong with the young boy except sickle cell.

The doc told me they were all wrong and he was going to bring the boy to St. Judes, but they did not have bed space at the time and Hershey welcomed us. The doc said Hershey would take their time and get it right and just as he predicted, they did and found a fast growing tumor, which if left for another week or so the young boy would have died. Doc stayed with the young boy for 3 days until he could find trasportation to bring his parents.

By the time they arrived, their son was recovering and well on his way to enjoying life for many years to come. Doc took me aside and told me softly that the people at Hershey really cared and weren’t there just to take home a paycheck, and I saw that “up close and personal” many times.

Doc and family and other volunteers are currently in rural Appalachia. I telephoned his daughter a few minutes ago to check on them and she told me they would be bringing several young children to Hershey later this week and others to Cleveland Clinic. I could not go with southernpatriots this winter, but I have donated to them and to Hershey and will again next week.

It is truly a great thing the Penn State students and alums have enabled. They are saving lives of children and giving them a quality of life and length of life that was unheard of just a few years ago.

Great post! They do a wonderful job and PSU students should be commended for this action. Everyone at that school takes THON very seriously and are proud of the achievement. We are greatful to them for this.

I have accompanied several children out of more than twenty southernpatriots family of a doctor, nurses, and other volunteers have transported to Hershey. They not only care for the children and families with great compassion and care, but treat the rest of us who just accompanied the children there as if we were royalty. One surgeon offered me a tour of their new pediatric facility and an aid came out asking what we wanted to eat and drink, etc. Coupled with state of the art treatment and care, this patient care is extraordinary. The students and alums of Penn State helped make all this possible.

I want to personally thank the students and alums of Penn State. I know the doc, nurses, and others in southernpatriots’ family would all be thanking them as well, if they weren’t so busy in Appalachia at this moment.

Thank you JT for posting this story and reminding me to make a donation. If you can, all posters here could make a donation to Thon to help these kids.

Yeah, you know you are.

Regarding the students, 22 million in 2 years is absolutely amazing. Perhaps as impressive, is these kids filled an arena on Friday and Saturday to support a cause beyond the weekend party. Sandusky sucks and damaged the school but recognize and praise these kids for efforts beyond the call of duty.

Well done students!

It always boggled me why THON never received more national media coverage. It is the largest student run philanthropy organization in the world and does a lot of good.

Oh, and they have THON every year. Moron.

I’ll tell you where the, now over $101 Million that Penn State has raised for the Four Diamonds Fund goes. It has gone towards the new Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA, annually rated one of the best Children’s Hospital’s in the nation. It has gone towards paying for chemotherapy treatments for families that would otherwise struggle to find ways to make payments, but now can focus on their children. Trust me, I know people that are being helped by the Four Diamonds Fund. It goes towards research in finding a cure for pediatric cancer. If you want to know where the money goes, ask the parents of Charlie Beecher, a THON child whose life was saved in part to the efforts of Penn State. Ask the Emily Whitehead family. Young Emily was unable to attend THON last year because she was extremely ill and her family was unsure if she’d ever make it to another THON again. She was there this year, enjoying THON. So, sir, if you’re wondering where the money goes that us Penn Staters raise, the over $101 Million in total, it goes exactly where we say it does. It’s For the Kids.