Spring Break
Partying For A Cause
HuskyTHON Raises $50,000 For Children?s Hospital
John Bailey
Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Focus
By the time the final morale dance concluded at noon, with raised fists and a last yell of "I will survive," it was clear that the staff had done their job. Though everyone was tired, sleepwalking lazily to their piles of bags and discarded outerwear, the attitude in the room was electric.
"It feels really good," said Chelsea Hagen, a 4th-semester exploratory major representing Kappa Kappa Gamma. Her sorority raised the most money of any organization during the event, and also had the most dancers. "But not just because of all the money we raised. Seeing [our sponsored family] in the morning was really great."
Teams of students representing organizations - mostly Greek organizations, but not entirely - each sponsored a particular family whose child had been treated at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center. The families were present to meet with their sponsoring team, and while they didn't generally stay the whole night, they spent as much time at the Field House as they could during the evening and following morning.
The focus on the families has grown over the years.
"The first year it was clearly geared towards the college students - there were only two or three families," said Pat Ferron, a resident of Smithfield, R.I. whose son was treated at the CCMC. "Now it's maybe 15 or 20. Word spreads through the families. If there's one event you go to, they say, make it [HuskyTHON]."
Aside from family participation, HuskyTHON has been growing rapidly in all areas in the past few years. Louise Ferrone, an 8th-semester economics and human rights major and executive director of HuskyTHON, described changes in leadership and overhauls of the fund raising tools as key to the program's success.
"What really helped was the online fund raising," Ferrone said.
An online fundraising tool allowed students to solicit donations without having to go through the arduous and expensive process of large-scale mailings. More than half the event's donations came from the online tool, noted Bill Mattera, hall director for Northwest Campus and advisor to the program.
"It feels really good," said Chelsea Hagen, a 4th-semester exploratory major representing Kappa Kappa Gamma. Her sorority raised the most money of any organization during the event, and also had the most dancers. "But not just because of all the money we raised. Seeing [our sponsored family] in the morning was really great."
Teams of students representing organizations - mostly Greek organizations, but not entirely - each sponsored a particular family whose child had been treated at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center. The families were present to meet with their sponsoring team, and while they didn't generally stay the whole night, they spent as much time at the Field House as they could during the evening and following morning.
The focus on the families has grown over the years.
"The first year it was clearly geared towards the college students - there were only two or three families," said Pat Ferron, a resident of Smithfield, R.I. whose son was treated at the CCMC. "Now it's maybe 15 or 20. Word spreads through the families. If there's one event you go to, they say, make it [HuskyTHON]."
Aside from family participation, HuskyTHON has been growing rapidly in all areas in the past few years. Louise Ferrone, an 8th-semester economics and human rights major and executive director of HuskyTHON, described changes in leadership and overhauls of the fund raising tools as key to the program's success.
"What really helped was the online fund raising," Ferrone said.
An online fundraising tool allowed students to solicit donations without having to go through the arduous and expensive process of large-scale mailings. More than half the event's donations came from the online tool, noted Bill Mattera, hall director for Northwest Campus and advisor to the program.
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