It’s that time of year again! The leaves lining Pollock Road are changing, and canning trips are rolling in.

As hard as it might be to believe, THON is only 127 days away. That being said, you’ve got to make sure you are prepared for the first Canning Weekend of the year. Whether you’re a first-timer or you’ve been around the block before, here are some helpful tips that should do the trick.

Do:

• Check out the forecast – Like I said, fall is definitely here. Make sure to check the weather forecast for your location before you start packing. Don’t want to be caught in a rainstorm without an umbrella, am I right?
• Bring that extra pillow – It might not be the worst idea, considering most trips average 10 canners. That’s a lot of people who will sleep crammed together in small spaces.
• Sport your THON gear – We know you all have at least one THON shirt. If you’re like me, you’ve got a whole pile of ‘em. Support your orgs and committees and everything in between by wearing all of that merch!
• Pay the driver – Make sure to help out your drivers by hooking them up with some gas money.
• Tag –  You have to be up-to-date with the latest apps, right? Use State College’s very own app by adding “Tag You’re It” when taking a picture or video (pretty much like Snapchat) while canning, send it to your pals, and it will add your location to a Google map. It’s definitely easier than constantly updating those GroupMe chats when you move from intersection to storefront.
• Smile! – Canning weekends are AWESOME, so make the most out of them. Plus, the people donating are taking money out of their own pockets for a great cause. How could you not smile just a little bit?

Don’t:

• Forget about the Fundraising Safety e-Course – Now that there aren’t workshops this year, the Fundraising Safety e-Course is now the official THON course to allow you to can. It’s required, it’s important, and it can cost THON some of those dollars if you don’t take it!
• Drop out at the last minute – As a solicitations chair this year for Ohana, I can tell you that there’s nothing worse than having to reorganize a completed trip for the weekend. Unless you’ve got an emergency situation, do not drop. You will just be sitting in State College, anyway. That’s not fun at all.
• Play in traffic – Once you take the e-Course, you’ll know that running out into the middle of oncoming traffic for donations and canning on medians is definitely FTnotoKay. Make sure you follow the rules; they are there for a reason!
• Get discouraged – It might get a little cold, and you might not get as many donations as you were hoping for, but remember who you’re standing out there for and why you’re doing what you’re doing.
• Get in arguments with other orgs – Totally not cool. If someone’s in your spot and they were there first, they get to keep it unless they don’t have a permit. This makes perfect sense, so be cool about it. Finders, keepers.

One last thing: have fun! Be thankful to the family that puts up with your group all weekend, be safe, and make some money FTK.