It was an ordinary day. Just pulled out my copy of the 2013 Manheim Township Middle School Yearbook to see if I could find the class photograph of a young man who was the center of a story in the morning newspaper (LNP). Nicholas Vicidomini was a graduating 8th grader when I placed his class photo in the yearbook that year. As I searched the rest of the book I found him in a photo of the 8th grade basketball team. Nothing very special about the boy in the yearbook, but the LNP changed all that when they told the story about Nick and his travails through early life with lymphoblastic lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer.
When Nick was a 7 year-old he underwent three surgeries as well as eight months of chemotherapy. It was back in 2007 that Nick and his family first went to THON. For those not familiar with the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, commonly referred to as THON, it is a 46-hour dance marathon that takes place every February at the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania with the purpose of raising money and providing emotional support to children and families in order to combat pediatric cancer. It was started in 1973 by Penn State University's Interfraternity Council. That year they raised more than $2,000 with 39 couples dancing for 30 straight hours. Today it is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world with millions raised every year.
The money is donated to The Four Diamonds Fund which is a charity devoted to defeating pediatric cancer through research and caring for patients and their families at the Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. About three-quarters of the money raised is used by The Four Diamonds Experimental Therapeutics Endowment for research while much of the rest of the money is used for the young cancer patients family support.
This year's event began yesterday with more than 16,000 people at the Bryce Jordan Center dancing their hearts away for the young children. It was back in 2007 that Nick became involved in THON. In the LNP story he is quoted as saying, "I like to think THON saved my life." Nick has been cancer free since 2009. But, he hasn't forgotten how he became that way. This young man decided years ago that he wanted to continue with THON by entering Penn State University after graduating from Manheim Township HIgh School, which he did in 2017. This guy was such a great basketball player that he was recruited by colleges who wanted his basketball services at their schools, but his loyalty to THON was so great that he turned them all down to enter Penn State so he could continue to be part of the school's THON program. And, yesterday and today he will be one of the 16,000 people who will help raise money to continue the program that at one time helped to save Nick's life. I'm hoping that Nick's story might inspire you to give to The Four Diamonds Fund. As I looked at his photo from the yearbook it never struck me that he would one day be one of the student's so inspired by what had happened in his life to feel compelled to lend his support for this worthy cause. Our country is in good hands knowing that we have young men such as Nick Vicidomini leading the way. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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| Nick's photo from his 2013 yearbook. |
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| The official logo of THON. |
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| In 2005 Carol and I visited with our friends Jere and Sue who live in State College. We made a trip to Bryce Jordan Center to see the dancers at THON. An exciting evening with dancing in our seats since the gym floor was filled by thousands of students dancing the night away. |
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