“Mini-THON is one of the largest student-run philanthropy organizations in the world,” said this year’s adviser Ms. Sarah Davis.

Davis replaced last year’s adviser, Mr. Andrew Kurnas, who ran the program for the past five years. One of Stroudsburg’s largest events started out as a five members from student government, who had just a few short months to organize it. In the few short months, they managed to get SHS involved, and they raised $23,000.

“I realized from thereon that we could do something good,” said Kurnas. He knew that it would be quite a challenge, but it was worth it because it was for a great cause.

All proceeds go to the Four Diamonds organization at Penn State Children’s Hospital. The proceeds are used to help find a cure for thousands of kids suffering from childhood cancer.  Four Diamonds also helps parents and children pay for treatments and hospital expenses.

This year’s Mini-THON is happening on April 26- 27, 2019. As the new adviser, Davis and her committee have exciting, new plans in the works, but not all have been announced yet.

One change is the philosophical approach this year’s committee is taking.

“Here at Stroudsburg Mini-THON we are refocusing on the cause as opposed to any dollar amount,” said senior Madalyn Drozal, a committee member  “It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers and the monetary goal but, theoretically, any amount of money we raise for the Four Diamonds makes a world of difference.

Currently Mini-THON is in 283 schools in eight states and is growing every year. Mini-THON is a high school’s “mini” version of Penn State University’s THON, which is held every year. This year’s THON is February 15. Last year, students, staff, and sponsors raised $10,385,695, and SHS raised $94,102.74 for the cause. 

“Mini-THON has been one of the best life changing experiences I have ever been a part of,” said Caley Hank. “It was amazing to see our school coming together for a cause that is worldwide. I am very excited to see what Ms. Davis has planned.”

Students interested in joining a committee should use the following codes below to join a Google Classroom for important announcements and updates. 

Event fundraising- i50biv

Hospitality- g41h63

Film/tech- jngf7pu

Nourishment- 4jebfv6

Security- mheat3

For more information on Mini-THON, please visit https://www.sburgminithon.com/