PSU Thon Four Diamonds Fund

[409fold]

2 questions:

(1) Was THON/Four Diamonds a topic discussed on Rutgers boards 4 years ago? In the summer of 2011?

(2) If yes, what were those discussions like? There is a definite level of "vitriol" in this thread, was that same vitriol present in those 2011 threads?

 

[Upstream]

2 questions:

(1) Was THON/Four Diamonds a topic discussed on Rutgers boards 4 years ago? In the summer of 2011?

(2) If yes, what were those discussions like? There is a definite level of "vitriol" in this thread, was that same vitriol present in those 2011 threads?

This thread has been repeated every year for at least 10 years.

 

[409fold]

This thread has been repeated every year for at least 10 years.

That's cool ..... just curious, as it does seem that THON has become a point of contention as regards BOTH sides of the great "are all Penn State folk evil JoeBots?" debate.

I'm a PSU alum who doesn't give to THON myself, FWIW, as I think there are some transparency issues concerning Four Diamonds Fund. My issues are more with Four Diamonds (a group of adults who have been in their jobs for a long long time) as opposed to the PSU THON participants (an every-single-year changing group of kids who generally have the right idea, but aren't as wise to the world and as such can get misled by the Four Diamonds adults).

The "charitable industrial complex" is definitely a thing.

 

[sct1111]

The Penn State dance marathon always seemed like a huge Penn State circle jerk to me. But it's a circle jerk that raises a lot of money for pediatric cancer research. Good for PSU and good for the kids.

If Rutgers could raise half of the money that PSU does for their dance marathon for ANYTHING I'd be extremely happy. I really like the Big Chill. I feel like Rutgers needs to promote it statewide and make it bigger than it already is. I think the PSU dance marathon is a perfect model to use.

 

[BigLou]

While it may not make a difference to you, it does make a difference to others.

For example, I'm involved in approving research funding for my company. While we we have funded research programs at Hershey, they could not use that budget to provide direct patient care outside of an approved clinical trial.

First, apology accepted about your comments concerning which fund gets the money. I may have over read your comments as well.

Second, a funny thing in this thread - the people who support Thon do not seem to be the least bothered that a significant portion of the money goes to research. I take it that these people, including myself and I'll include zappaa and rusmrtrthna5 amongst others understand that money raised "for the kids" can mean using those funds to provide care and comfort to current patients while also funding research into causes and treatments. Those who wish to criticize most likely do not support (donate) Thon and feel that "for the kids" must be exclusively about care and comfort. Which side is right, well I think my view is clear but I guess the critics have a right to their view as well, though they need not make wildly inaccurate accusations and innuendo to do so. I am blessed with 2 healthy children (one of whom has put a tremendous amount of time into participating in Thon) but if I had to face what the parents of the 4 Diamond kids face, I think I would be on the research side. Those who don't agree, or who feel that PSU is playing fast with the money, should find another charity. Might I suggest a couple of worthy NJ based charities with similar goals

http://www.tcfkid.org/ Tomorrows Children's Fund provides comfort, care and funding for research

http://www.embracekids.org/ Embrace Kids seems to focus on comfort and care.

Or reach across the river and donate to https://thon.org/

 

[_getmyjive11]

I just wanted to point out that every pediatric cancer patient at Hershey Medical Center has their medical expenses covered 100 percent. Whatever is not covered by insurance gets covered by the four diamonds fund. It also covers secondary expenses like travel costs, family hotel bills (for when they need to stay overnight during treatments), etc. Every single patient. for those complaining, maybe they should ask any of those families what they think of THON.

 

[Ole Cabbagehead]

How has RUsmrtrthana5thgrder not been banned yet. Is there any moderator here? He purposely disregards the points being made and continues to argue the same nonsense. He is a troll.

No one is saying raising money for pediatric cancer research is bad. The only point is that because Thon/4 Diamonds is run as a part of PSU, which is a state agency, there is a lack of transparency about how the money is spent. That is a valid criticism of any charity. It is the reason there are online services dedicated to ranking charities by where the money goes. PSU should make the numbers public. Everyone should want that. Supporters should want that even more than non-supporters.

The secondary criticism is that the "For the Kids" slogan may not accurately reflect the actual activities of the charity. I think its a valid criticism. The slogan may imply that the primary purpose of the charity is to provide benefits to sick children. The bulk of the money is not "for the kids," but rather for PSU cancer research. There is a meaningful distinction between those two purposes. In one, the kids receive the primary benefit. In the other, researchers receive the primary benefit and kids may receive an ancillary benefit if anything comes of the research. While we can argue whether the slogan is in fact misleading or not, it is intellectually dishonest to assert that the distinction is meaningless.

 

[_getmyjive11]

How has RUsmrtrthana5thgrder not been banned yet. Is there any moderator here? He purposely disregards the points being made and continues to argue the same nonsense. He is a troll.

No one is saying raising money for pediatric cancer research is bad. The only point is that because Thon/4 Diamonds is run as a part of PSU, which is a state agency, there is a lack of transparency about how the money is spent. That is a valid criticism of any charity. It is the reason there are online services dedicated to ranking charities by where the money goes. PSU should make the numbers public. Everyone should want that. Supporters should want that even more than non-supporters.

The secondary criticism is that the "For the Kids" slogan may not accurately reflect the actual activities of the charity. I think its a valid criticism. The slogan may imply that the primary purpose of the charity is to provide benefits to sick children. The bulk of the money is not "for the kids," but rather for PSU cancer research. There is a meaningful distinction between those two purposes. In one, the kids receive the primary benefit. In the other, researchers receive the primary benefit and kids may receive an ancillary benefit if anything comes of the research. While we can argue whether the slogan is in fact misleading or not, it is intellectually dishonest to assert that the distinction is meaningless.

Again, the kids are having their expenses covered 100%. They also get better care in a modern, top 25 program. What else would you like the fund to do for those patients that it is not already doing?

 

[Ole Cabbagehead]

Again, the kids are having their expenses covered 100%. They also get better care in a modern, top 25 program. What else would you like the fund to do for those patients that it is not already doing?

Saw your post. Obviously that is huge, but its my understanding that that is a small part of what the money is being spent on. My impression is that there are few patients, and that the amount spent on uninsured medical costs is dwarfed by the amounts raised. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think the information is out there. Thats the real gripe with the whole thing. Of course there are some that take it too far, but I think to this extent at least the criticism is legitimate.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

How has RUsmrtrthana5thgrder not been banned yet. Is there any moderator here? He purposely disregards the points being made and continues to argue the same nonsense. He is a troll.

No one is saying raising money for pediatric cancer research is bad. The only point is that because Thon/4 Diamonds is run as a part of PSU, which is a state agency, there is a lack of transparency about how the money is spent. That is a valid criticism of any charity. It is the reason there are online services dedicated to ranking charities by where the money goes. PSU should make the numbers public. Everyone should want that. Supporters should want that even more than non-supporters.

The secondary criticism is that the "For the Kids" slogan may not accurately reflect the actual activities of the charity. I think its a valid criticism. The slogan may imply that the primary purpose of the charity is to provide benefits to sick children. The bulk of the money is not "for the kids," but rather for PSU cancer research. There is a meaningful distinction between those two purposes. In one, the kids receive the primary benefit. In the other, researchers receive the primary benefit and kids may receive an ancillary benefit if anything comes of the research. While we can argue whether the slogan is in fact misleading or not, it is intellectually dishonest to assert that the distinction is meaningless.

Nice summary.

That a fellow Big Ten school raises so much money "for the kids" with cancer should be a great thing.. a point of pride for the whole conference. Instead, the way "the Thon" is referenced by PSUers..and its lack of transparency made it suspect.

It has nothing to do with hatred of Penn State. iirc, the whole reason this topic came up some years ago (and is repeated now) is that PSUers tried to defend the cult-like behavior of the student body surrounding the whole Sandusky-JoePA thing by saying, "Hey.. look at the good we do with THON". That actually happened on this board.

That is the context by which people here started looking into that claim. And having to see PSUers clogging intersections in Jersey with collecting cans to inflate the dollar figures thrown about and to fuel the "We Are Penn State" and to mitigate the disastrous handling of the Sandusky thing... it made some people look into this and to find the money was nearly all spent at PennState and to fund PSU profs work... well... SELF SERVING was the first thing that came to mind and that has not changed.

 

[Puzio]

Second, a funny thing in this thread - the people who support Thon do not seem to be the least bothered that a significant portion of the money goes to research. I take it that these people, including myself and I'll include zappaa and rusmrtrthna5 amongst others understand that money raised "for the kids" can mean using those funds to provide care and comfort to current patients while also funding research into causes and treatments. Those who wish to criticize most likely do not support (donate) Thon and feel that "for the kids" must be exclusively about care and comfort. Which side is right, well I think my view is clear but I guess the critics have a right to their view as well, though they need not make wildly inaccurate accusations and innuendo to do so. I am blessed with 2 healthy children (one of whom has put a tremendous amount of time into participating in Thon) but if I had to face what the parents of the 4 Diamond kids face, I think I would be on the research side. Those who don't agree, or who feel that PSU is playing fast with the money, should find another charity. Might I suggest a couple of worthy NJ based charities with similar goals

I agree with everything you've said. I believe that research is just as much "for the kids" as is care/comfort. You have every right to disagree and donate to any other charity of your choice, but acting like this is somehow shady or underhanded is ridiculous. I don't have an issue with anyone mentioning that a big chunk goes to research. Transparency is important. What I have a problem with is casting THON in a negative light and insinuating that it's somehow a scam because it's associated with PSU.

 

[Upstream]

Again, the kids are having their expenses covered 100%. They also get better care in a modern, top 25 program. What else would you like the fund to do for those patients that it is not already doing?

So if that is the worthy cause that is the primary purpose of Thon, then why is only 10% of the money raised spent on this cause? If there aren't enough patients at Hershey to take advantage of all the money raised, why not help patients at other hospitals like CHOP in Philadelphia or UPMC in Pittsburgh? Don't the kids there deserve help too?

 

[_getmyjive11]

Saw your post. Obviously that is huge, but its my understanding that that is a small part of what the money is being spent on. My impression is that there are few patients, and that the amount spent on uninsured medical costs is dwarfed by the amounts raised. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think the information is out there. Thats the real gripe with the whole thing. Of course there are some that take it too far, but I think to this extent at least the criticism is legitimate.

It is publicized. Here is the latest report.

http://www.fourdiamonds.org/_fourdiamonds/assets/File/FY14%20Four%20Diamonds%20Impact%20Report%20FINAL.pdf

In it, you will find the finacial information on page 9. The number of patients covered can be found on page 5. Page 8 has the following paragraph:

According to the original Four Diamonds gift
agreement by co-founders Charles and Irma
Millard, after all of the costs for eligible patient
medical expenses have been met, Four Diamonds
may direct funds to support pediatric oncology
clinical and research needs at Penn State Hershey.

So, patient's medical bills will always be paid first before funds are directed towards pediatric cancer research.

 

[_getmyjive11]

So if that is the worthy cause that is the primary purpose of Thon, then why is only 10% of the money raised spent on this cause? If there aren't enough patients at Hershey to take advantage of all the money raised, why not help patients at other hospitals like CHOP in Philadelphia or UPMC in Pittsburgh? Don't the kids there deserve help too?

Because the Four Diamonds Fund is specifically for PSU. The original agreement, which is legally binding, was specifically for patients at PSU's medical center. If that is what bothers you then direct your money elsewhere. To claim somehow it isn't a worthy cause because of that reason is pretty stupid. Simply speaking, if THON only collected 10% of what it does now so that it merely covered the patients bills and had nothing left over, you would have no issues, right? Because then 100% of the use of funds would go directly to patient care. Pretty ridiculous argument.

 

[Upstream]

I agree with everything you've said. I believe that research is just as much "for the kids" as is care/comfort. You have every right to disagree and donate to any other charity of your choice, but acting like this is somehow shady or underhanded is ridiculous. I don't have an issue with anyone mentioning that a big chunk goes to research. Transparency is important.

While research is certainly a worthwhile cause and obviously money spent on research indirectly helps kids with cancer, it is not the same as direct support for the kids. Even Thon advocates like Getmyjive seem to have been mislead into believing that direct support for the kids is the primary use of Thon donations.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

It is publicized. Here is the latest report.

http://www.fourdiamonds.org/_fourdiamonds/assets/File/FY14%20Four%20Diamonds%20Impact%20Report%20FINAL.pdf

Who is Eligible for Four Diamonds Assistance?
1) Any patient who has been a Pennsylvania resident for more than one year (or who has moved to Pennsylvania for a non-medical related reason); and
2) Is under the age of 22 when diagnosed with cancer; and
3) Is receiving primary oncology care at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital.

So why not change the tag line to..

Benefiting Kids from Pennsylvania with Cancer (who are being treated at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital)?

And the letters to "FTKFP"?

Put that on the cans when you collect out of state.

BTW. Patient Care and Family Support amounted to less than $3M of the collected $13M+... as per your report. That's about $7,000 per patient for the 428 patients counted in that same report.

Again, if you guys never tried to use this to excuse aberrant behavior in other areas I really wouldn't care. But you do.

 

[_getmyjive11]

While research is certainly a worthwhile cause and obviously money spent on research indirectly helps kids with cancer, it is not the same as direct support for the kids. Even Thon advocates like Getmyjive seem to have been mislead into believing that direct support for the kids is the primary use of Thon donations.

It is the primary use. If donations were cut by 90%, the research would not be funded but patient care would. I haven't been mislead at all. I fully understand how the fund works and if you would just do some research on the Four Diamonds Fund (which should be required if you are going to claim that it isn't a worthy cause), then you would understand it as well.

 

[_getmyjive11]

So why not change the tag line to..

Benefiting Kids from Pennsylvania with Cancer (who are being treated at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital)?

And the letters to "FTKFP"?

Put that on the cans when you collect out of state.

Again, if you guys never tried to use this to excuse aberrant behavior in other areas I really wouldn't care. But you do.

What aberrant behavior? You are attacking THON because of a pedophile? Is that what you are trying to say? You are attacking the work of over 15k students per year because of some sick old bastard that is rotting away in jail?

 

[DJ Spanky]

Before I comment, I just want to say that I support the fact that these kids go out and raise money for a worthy cause.

Raising money for research of Childrens cancer is the same as raising money directly for children with cancer.

I don't think you know the meaning of the word "directly"

Raising money for research is an important cause, but it is a different cause than raising money to directly support kids.

As someone who has had the misfortune of personal experience with this, I do think that it's misleading to label the cause so boldly as raising money for children and their families as they go through their treatment and recovery. That is a partial truth and deceptive. The fact that the money also goes to cancer research should have equal billing as supporting the children's families. But because that's buried in the details, so to speak, and there's no clear accounting of the recipients of that money, it gives a faint foul odor of impropriety. Don't get me wrong, I believe the money is going to a worthy cause no matter how it's divided. Without the strides made over the last few decades my life would be radically different. But PSU needs to be transparent about how the money is split up and who are the recipients.

 

[_getmyjive11]

Before I comment, I just want to say that I support the fact that these kids go out and raise money for a worthy cause.


As someone who has had the misfortune of personal experience with this, I do think that it's misleading to label the cause so boldly as raising money for children and their families as they go through their treatment and recovery. That is a partial truth and deceptive. The fact that the money also goes to cancer research should have equal billing as supporting the children's families. But because that's buried in the details, so to speak, and there's no clear accounting of the recipients of that money, it gives a faint foul odor of impropriety. Don't get me wrong, I believe the money is going to a worthy cause no matter how it's divided. Without the strides made over the last few decades my life would be radically different. But PSU needs to be transparent about how the money is split up and who are the recipients.

It's all on their website and also on the year end report. I really don't know what else you think PSU needs to do to make it more transparent. Should the students run down the list of everything it pays for before a person throws a dollar in the can?

 

[MADHAT1]

I posted the same link getmyjive11 did.
http://www.fourdiamonds.org/_fourdiamonds/assets/File/FY14 Four Diamonds Impact Report FINAL.pdf
and put page 9 (covering 6/30/2013 – 7/1/2014) in my message
showing Sources of Revenue and how they use those funds.
I think everyone discussing TRON and 4 Diamonds should look at page 8 and 9 if they haven't already seen those pages

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

What aberrant behavior? You are attacking THON because of a pedophile? Is that what you are trying to say? You are attacking the work of over 15k students per year because of some sick old bastard that is rotting away in jail?

Of course you'd see it that way.

What I am saying is that THON is not very transparent and is misleading, but I wouldn't have noticed that at all if PSUers did not try to use THON to excuse their aberrant behavior surrounding the whole Sandusky-JoePA thing. Of course, you might not have found the fans behavior aberrant.

So, my participation in "attacking" THON, as you put it.. came about because...

- PSUer's used THON's good works to try to mask their poor behavior.
- THON itself, benefits only Pennsylvanians and mostly PSU profs and researchers but they do not advertise that.

Both conditions would have to have happened or I wouldn't have anything to say about THON. Call it an "attack" if you must.. but it is just the truth.

 

[_getmyjive11]

Of course you'd see it that way.

What I am saying is that THON is not very transparent and is misleading, but I wouldn't have noticed that at all if PSUers did not try to use THON to excuse their aberrant behavior surrounding the whole Sandusky-JoePA thing. Of course, you might not have found the fans behavior aberrant.

So, my participation in "attacking" THON, as you put it.. came about because...

- PSUer's used THON's good works to try to mask their poor behavior.
- THON itself, benefits only Pennsylvanians and mostly PSU profs and researchers but they do not advertise that.

Both conditions would have to have happened or I wouldn't have anything to say about THON. Call it an "attack" if you must.. but it is just the truth.

Holy ****. Read the report. Read the website. What else would you like them to do to be "more transparent"? After you are done with that, let me know what percentage of the PSU community you think participated in "aberrant behavior" and specify what that behavior is. Thanks.

 

[Puzio]

Wow, the level of *******-ness here is amazing. I'm very sorry that you somehow feel lied to by the fact that some of the money is used for pediatric cancer research or that it all stays in PA, but there's no lack of transparency in what they're doing. In fact, I think it's pretty clear in their mission statement:

"The Four Diamonds’ mission is to conquer childhood cancer by assisting children treated at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital and their families through superior care, comprehensive support, and innovative research."

I'm also sorry that you feel the need to denigrate the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. Tens of thousands of kids have worked very hard to build THON up into what it is. As a PSUer, I am very proud of what THON does and what it represents and I make no apologies for it. You want to label it as an "excuse" for "masking poor behavior"? WTF is wrong with you??? Nobody does this to mask anything. This is done as a mission for good, no other reason. I'm sorry that you feel that the entirety of Penn State, it's faculty, students, alumni and fans all contributed to what Sandusky did, but you're wrong. You wanna argue about #culture? I'll be happy to do that, but don't try to use THON as an excuse to do so. All you're doing by knocking THON is potentially taking money away from pediatric cancer research.

Very often, I hear from anti-PSU people that the reason they hate PSU so much is because we apparently had a "holier-than-thou" attitude and felt that our **** didn't stink and, therefore, the Sandusky scandal became the perfect counter to that attitude. I feel that holding your school to as high a standard as possible - whether it be academically, socially or athletically - is never a bad thing. Personally, I've never looked at it as "my school is better than your school", but rather had pride that I felt my school held itself to a high standard (which is obviously not exclusive to us). Are there some ******** that like to do that? Of course, but let's not try to paint all of us with such a broad brush. I'm proud of the research that goes on and the students that come out of Penn State. I'm proud of our football team's graduation rates. I'm proud of THON. What disgusts me is the notion that ANY of us would have been okay with what went on or wanted to cover it up so it wouldn't affect the football program is... well, honestly, it's a slap in the face. If you don't think you'd fight like hell when people said that about you, then you're lying to yourself. The culture around Penn State was always to try to hold ourselves to a high standard. That a handful of people failed at that (whether purposely or not) should not detract from all of the good things produced by that collective effort.

 

[RUChoppin]

Should the students run down the list of everything it pays for before a person throws a dollar in the can?

Actually, yeah.

THON is trying to be two things - some sort of volunteer club trying to do good things (like, say, a group of kids who get together to clean up the park each Sunday) and a multi-million dollar charity. On the one hand, people say "it's just students volunteering their time, and there needs to be no accounting"... but on the other, people say "look how many millions of dollars are raised". There's a disconnect there.

Any large charity should have clear documentation of its expenses and overhead, as well as a clear accounting of where all the money goes. Charities get hung up with this stuff all the time. Even the Red Cross is having to answer hard questions about where all money it received for Haiti aid has gone, and it's one of the most recognized charities in the world.

It's great that Four Diamonds has financial disclosures, but that's only a part of what THON takes in. There isn't even a clear accounting of how much of THON's money goes to Four Diamonds vs. research vs. overhead/other.

This is not to say that THON is bad - or that it's somehow misdirecting funds, or being wasteful, or whatever. It's just that, as a large charity, it should be held to account for how efficiently it uses funds and should clearly outline how all those funds are allocated - and any lack of transparency will be questioned. Even if you are a massive THON supporter, you should want that. It is much bigger than a group of kids who just get together to try to make a difference in the world... this is a much larger endeavor than something like cleaning up litter in the school parking lot.

 

[Upstream]

Wow, the level of *******-ness here is amazing. I'm very sorry that you somehow feel lied to by the fact that some of the money is used for pediatric cancer research or that it all stays in PA, but there's no lack of transparency in what they're doing. In fact, I think it's pretty clear in their mission statement:

"The Four Diamonds’ mission is to conquer childhood cancer by assisting children treated at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital and their families through superior care, comprehensive support, and innovative research."

But that is not the mission of Thon; that is the mission of the Four Diamonds fund. Since the Four Diamonds fund is the only beneficiary of Thon, then the mission of Thon should be exactly the same as the mission of the Four Diamonds fund.

Here is the Thon mission: " For The Kids, For The Families. The mission of the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon is to conquer pediatric cancer by providing outstanding emotional and financial support to the children, families, researchers, and staff of the Four Diamonds Fund. FTK!"

While the Four Diamonds mission is fairly clear in how the money is used, the Thon mission is not.

 

[_getmyjive11]

Actually, yeah.

THON is trying to be two things - some sort of volunteer club trying to do good things (like, say, a group of kids who get together to clean up the park each Sunday) and a multi-million dollar charity. On the one hand, people say "it's just students volunteering their time, and there needs to be no accounting"... but on the other, people say "look how many millions of dollars are raised". There's a disconnect there.

Any large charity should have clear documentation of its expenses and overhead, as well as a clear accounting of where all the money goes. Charities get hung up with this stuff all the time. Even the Red Cross is having to answer hard questions about where all money it received for Haiti aid has gone, and it's one of the most recognized charities in the world.

It's great that Four Diamonds has financial disclosures, but that's only a part of what THON takes in. There isn't even a clear accounting of how much of THON's money goes to Four Diamonds vs. research vs. overhead/other.

This is not to say that THON is bad - or that it's somehow misdirecting funds, or being wasteful, or whatever. It's just that, as a large charity, it should be held to account for how efficiently it uses funds and should clearly outline how all those funds are allocated - and any lack of transparency will be questioned. Even if you are a massive THON supporter, you should want that. It is much bigger than a group of kids who just get together to try to make a difference in the world... this is a much larger endeavor than something like cleaning up litter in the school parking lot.

Actually, yeah.

THON is trying to be two things - some sort of volunteer club trying to do good things (like, say, a group of kids who get together to clean up the park each Sunday) and a multi-million dollar charity. On the one hand, people say "it's just students volunteering their time, and there needs to be no accounting"... but on the other, people say "look how many millions of dollars are raised". There's a disconnect there.

Any large charity should have clear documentation of its expenses and overhead, as well as a clear accounting of where all the money goes. Charities get hung up with this stuff all the time. Even the Red Cross is having to answer hard questions about where all money it received for Haiti aid has gone, and it's one of the most recognized charities in the world.

It's great that Four Diamonds has financial disclosures, but that's only a part of what THON takes in. There isn't even a clear accounting of how much of THON's money goes to Four Diamonds vs. research vs. overhead/other.

This is not to say that THON is bad - or that it's somehow misdirecting funds, or being wasteful, or whatever. It's just that, as a large charity, it should be held to account for how efficiently it uses funds and should clearly outline how all those funds are allocated - and any lack of transparency will be questioned. Even if you are a massive THON supporter, you should want that. It is much bigger than a group of kids who just get together to try to make a difference in the world... this is a much larger endeavor than something like cleaning up litter in the school parking lot.

Did you really just write that whole thing without trying to look it up yourself? It's right here:

https://thon.org/about/summaryoffundraising

 

[zappaa]

OMG, thus is hilarious!
Put a dollar in the friggen cup and be happy

 

[cjrugger_rivals124232]

Jive and company- give it up. There's some here that are worse than our Pitt friends. Just be thankful they are a very small minority and 99.9% of the world doesn't act like this

 

[_getmyjive11]

But that is not the mission of Thon; that is the mission of the Four Diamonds fund. Since the Four Diamonds fund is the only beneficiary of Thon, then the mission of Thon should be exactly the same as the mission of the Four Diamonds fund.

Here is the Thon mission: " For The Kids, For The Families. The mission of the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon is to conquer pediatric cancer by providing outstanding emotional and financial support to the children, families, researchers, and staff of the Four Diamonds Fund. FTK!"

While the Four Diamonds mission is fairly clear in how the money is used, the Thon mission is not.

You don't think that is clear??? Which part?

 

[NY AGENTMAN]

Sorry, I don't trust anything Penn State does after the Sandusky scandal, I am cynical of Thon and where the money goes, so I just don't donate. I don't blame the kids they are trying to do the right thing, but can't fully trust the Penn State entity! Sorry Nitters!

 

[RUChoppin]

Did you really just write that whole thing without trying to look it up yourself? It's right here:

https://thon.org/about/summaryoffundraising

Thanks for the link.

I actually had searched something yesterday that brought up several articles talking about Thon's lack of transparency with its fundraising. I honestly don't know what search terms I used, because I just typed "thon fundraising efficiency" and this link is staring me right in the face at the top of the list.

I should have taken more time to dig around a little more. This link is very clear.

 

[Upstream]

You don't think that is clear??? Which part?

The part where the following bolded words from the Four Diamonds mission are missing :

The Four Diamonds’ mission is to conquer childhood cancer by assisting children treated at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital and their families through superior care, comprehensive support, and innovative research."

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I'm also sorry that you feel the need to denigrate the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. Tens of thousands of kids have worked very hard to build THON up into what it is. As a PSUer, I am very proud of what THON does and what it represents and I make no apologies for it. You want to label it as an "excuse" for "masking poor behavior"? WTF is wrong with you??? Nobody does this to mask anything. This is done as a mission for good, no other reason.

Again, you CHOOSE to completely miss the point. No one is saying the students who raise the money have done anything but GOOD.

This discussion is about how SOME PSU fans used the good THON does as a shield against criticism for how they behaved making excuses for those fans who protested in favor of the way Penn State handled the Sandusky situation. AND it is about how its sold as "For The Kids" and "Research" when it is about PSU RESEARCH and Pennsylvania's kids. It is a university being intentionally intellectually dishonest.

That doesn't mean the people collecting are doing anything wrong. So stop making it sound that way... stop attacking the kids who are doing good. What's wrong with you. (How do you like that treatment? Two can play at that game?)

 

[_getmyjive11]

The part where the following bolded words from the Four Diamonds mission are missing :

The Four Diamonds’ mission is to conquer childhood cancer by assisting children treated at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital and their families through superior care, comprehensive support, and innovative research."

It doesn't need to mirror the Four Diamonds Fund's statement, especially since it references it. You are being pretty ridiculous here.

 

[Upstream]

OMG, thus is hilarious!
Put a dollar in the friggen cup and be happy

Zap, I get that the misleading parts of Thon fundraising don't bother you. But that is no reason to ridicule those who look for accuracy in fund raising.

And just to be clear, my objection is not because it is Penn State. A few years ago I notified John that someone was posting on this board for a misleading (and illegal ) fundraiser purportedly to help Eric Legrand.

 

[_getmyjive11]

Again, you CHOOSE to completely miss the point. No one is saying the students who raise the money have done anything but GOOD.

This discussion is about how SOME PSU fans used the good THON does as a shield against criticism for how they behaved making excuses for those fans who protested in favor of the way Penn State handled the Sandusky situation. AND it is about how its sold as "For The Kids" and "Research" when it is about PSU RESEARCH and Pennsylvania's kids. It is a university being intentionally intellectually dishonest.

That doesn't mean the people collecting are doing anything wrong. So stop making it sound that way... stop attacking the kids who are doing good. What's wrong with you. (How do you like that treatment? Two can play at that game?)

It's not being dishonest at all. The information is out there for anyone who wants to look. The vast majority of people are fine with throwing a buck into a can to help our kids and cancer research regardless of where those kids are from or what university is doing the research. Whether you like it or not, it is "For the kids". If you don't want to donate a dollar to the cause then don't. Whining about it because it benefits PSU along with the kids is about as pathetic as it gets.

 

[_getmyjive11]

Zap, I get that the misleading parts of Thon fundraising don't bother you. But that is no reason to ridicule those who look for accuracy in fund raising.

And just to be clear, my objection is not because it is Penn State. A few years ago I notified John that someone was posting on this board for a misleading (and illegal ) fundraiser purportedly to help Eric Legrand.

The accuracy is there, that is why this whole thing is ridiculous. We have posted all the information in this thread, which is made available through thon's and the four diamond fund's websites but somehow you are ignoring that.

 

[Puzio]

Again, you CHOOSE to completely miss the point. No one is saying the students who raise the money have done anything but GOOD.

This discussion is about how SOME PSU fans used the good THON does as a shield against criticism for how they behaved making excuses for those fans who protested in favor of the way Penn State handled the Sandusky situation. AND it is about how its sold as "For The Kids" and "Research" when it is about PSU RESEARCH and Pennsylvania's kids. It is a university being intentionally intellectually dishonest.

That doesn't mean the people collecting are doing anything wrong. So stop making it sound that way... stop attacking the kids who are doing good. What's wrong with you. (How do you like that treatment? Two can play at that game?)

No, this discussion turned into a way to associate THON with Sandusky. A number of people clearly said that they don't trust Penn State and, therefore, don't trust THON/Four Diamonds. The whole "Sandusky is proof that everything at Penn State is wrong" schtick is seriously ridiculous.

During the Rutgers/PSU game, SOME Rutgers fans flew pedophile flags and acted so poorly that your administration had to issue an apology. Is that how you want your entire student/alumni base to be viewed? Would it be fair of me to make that assumption? Obviously not. You need to look at a body of work when evaluating a situation. If Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston were both accused of the exact same crime, chances are that most people would automatically assume Winston was guilty, while likely giving Wilson the benefit of the doubt. When you start screaming "OMG, CLEARLY NOBODY AT PENN STATE CARES ABOUT KIDS", obviously the first response is going to be "take a look at THON". I don't see that as a shield against criticism, I see it as pointing towards a pattern of behavior. FSU has players getting arrested all the time and nobody is surprised... it's FSU. Duke basketball has a rape allegation and it's news. Why? Because Duke and FSU, that's why.

As for the mission statements, I think you're grasping at straws. Clearly the THON mission statement states research and aligns itself with Four Diamonds. I'm sorry that you'd like it to read more like the Four Diamonds mission statement, but we're talking about mission statements, for god sake. Nobody is being dishonest or trying to dupe anyone. For the kids means for the kids. Yes, directly it only affects PA kids... because PSU and Hershey Medical Center are in PA. It also indirectly affects non-PA kids, cause... you know, they're trying to cure freakin' cancer. If the proceeds were going into the pockets of board members, I'd be right there with you yelling and screaming, but they're pretty transparent about where the money comes from and where it goes. If you aren't happy about it, don't roll down your window and throw a buck in the jar, but don't **** all over a charity that is providing care and research to kids with cancer. If it was a Rutgers charity, you'd be perfectly fine with it.

 

[srru86]

To be fair gifts made to the Rutgers University Foundation are basically passed along to the University and fall into the same governmental accounting practices. So the Rutgers Cancer Center would operate in very much the same way.

So are you saying fundraising operations at Rutgers should raise a red flag?

I'm saying it is a slippery slope when you conflate "Helping Kids" with "Helping University Research". Both good causes but not the same thing.
Pretty soon you are in the "Kars 4 Kids" Zone.