Starting on October 1st of every year, Penn State students work as hard as they can to raise money for the Four Diamonds Fund, the charity that benefits from THON. Though there are many exciting things about THON Weekend, not many moments beat the rush experienced by thousands inside the BJC when the total is revealed on Sunday afternoon.

Each year, hundreds of organizations raise tens of thousands of dollars for the Four Diamonds Fund. Organizing all of the money from these efforts would not be possible without 25 Finance captains, 150 committee members, and overall Vicki Marone.

Throughout the year leading up to THON, members of the Finance committee spend their time counting and batching checks and crediting each and every donation to its respective organization. Whether donations come in through THONvelopes, online fundraising, or alternative fundraisers, the Finance committee is there to give credit where credit is due so that each organization can have an accurate fundraising total down to the penny. They also conduct four “Canning Drop-offs” (three this year), which take place on every post-canning Monday. And when the final moment comes, they are the ones with the grand total each year.

During THON weekend, you will see the Finance committee in their “forest green” shirts posted up at donation stations around the BJC, taking donations as well as answering questions any organizations may have. This Sunday afternoon when the grand total of THON 2012 is announced, remember all the hard work that went on behind the scenes to let us know what we’ve accomplished.