THON 2013: Attire to Inspire

All of the dancers of Sigma Alpha Epsilon are wearing “Just Drew It!” buttons, in honor of Jimmy Grech’s cousin, Drew, who died this past November of a rare form of cancer at the age of 17.

On the floors of BJC, we all have seen a lot of crazy outfits. Many of them have much more meaning than to just provide a punch of color to the tired volunteers. Read on for some touching stories that remind us why we THON.

Nora Gerstenberger is dancing for Club Field Hockey. Just this past summer, their THON child Eli passed away at the age of 16. Her button says “ChemoWarrior”- Eli’s nickname. Eli’s dad always told him cancer was a mental game, and that he was a warrior. This was their first THON without Eli, which makes it much more meaningful for the whole organization.

These five students, dancers for Sigma Pi and Delta Gamma, have “MH” on their tees- representing their fraternity brother Matt Hoffman, who died this past fall. Hoffman danced for Sigma Pi in 2008. Matt’s family is in the stands this weekend, supporting the org’s dancers.

Jordan Bonder is dancing for Kappa Alpha Theta, but mostly for her mom. The Saturday of THON marks the second anniversary of her mother’s passing. When her dad arrived to support Jordan, he gave her this bracelet. Searching for it for months, he finally found it in his wife’s jewelry box just a few days before the start of THON. When she read the engraving, it brought tears to her eyes: “PSU THON FTK 46”, with “Mom” engraved on the underside of the black enamel diamond.

Photos by Sam Florio