Marion Roger has been a seemingly life-long devotee to THON. The 1983 Penn State graduate was involved with the organization in her time as a student — designing the logo for the dance marathon in 1981. She’s spent years donating to THON, but made the most generous of those donations in 2013 — gifting a ring that was given from her late father to her mother that just so happens to be in the shape of four diamonds and was valued at $22,000.

She’s arguably played an even more important role as an ambassador for THON and in the fight against childhood cancer.

Several years ago, Roger befriended Patricia Blanc, president of France’s Imagine for Margo organization, which raises money for childhood cancer research.

Imagine for Margo started as a way to honor Blanc’s young daughter’s legacy. Margo passed away in 2010 of a brain tumor. Barely a teenager, Margo fought cancer for 16 months with tremendous courage — organizing ways to spread awareness of childhood cancer during her final stretch.

“She was only 13 and on her own she raised 100,000 euros,” Roger said.

The initiative’s motto “Go, Fight, Win,” is inspired by a phrase Margo wrote as she battled the disease.

Imagine for Margo officially launched in November 2011 and has held a run every year since called the “Children Without Cancer” race. This event has helped the organization raise more than 5.6 million euros for cancer research, donated to the ITTC — Innovative Therapies for Children with Cancer.

The connection with Roger has led Blanc to Happy Valley to check out THON for the first time. Roger said that she had asked Blanc throughout the past couple of years to come to the event and finally got her to make the trek from France for THON 2018.

The two entered through general admission around 4 p.m. on Saturday. Blanc’s first words when she first saw the spectacle as it filled up in the run-up to Pep Rally: “astonishing.”

While the trip will definitely provide memories, it hopefully will also give some new ideas for Blanc on how to run a growing philanthropic organization. They hoped to head to the Four Diamonds suite to get an interview, specifically to get a better understanding of deeper issues within collecting the funds like how to keep track of what’s raised.

The goal of Imagine for Margo is that “one day, we can imagine a world of children without cancer.” Doesn’t that sound familiar? That’s why we do this. Keep dancing #FTK.