Lehigh Valley Academy’s Mini-THON committee has held numerous fundraisers in order to raise money for Four Diamonds to help children battling childhood cancer and their families who are responsible for paying for treatments, medications, traveling fees, and more.

Mini-THON planners have been holding their annual “Penny Wars” fundraiser from March 4 to 14. Each grade is designated one jar in which students can put in pennies or dollar bills to increase their grade’s points. Students can also take away points from other grades by putting in silver coins like dimes, nickels, and quarters.

The grade with the most points earns a dress down day March 19 when its members are allowed to wear clothing that is not a part of the school’s uniform.

After the first week, $75.40 was raised. Last school year, Mini-THON was able to raise $447, so hopes are high that they can beat that amount this year.

Also part of Mini-THON is a second Skateaway Night at Bethlehem Skateaway Tuesday, March 19. Attendees are encouraged to wear green. All of the proceeds from this event will go towards Four Diamonds.

The first Skateaway event of the year held in January raised over $1,840, making it one of the most successful fundraisers of LVA Mini-THON history. Additionally, Mini-THON is holding a fundraiser at the P.J. Whelman restaurant across the street from LVA Thursday, March 14. Those who go can mention to their server that they are there for Mini-THON, and 15 percent of their bill will go towards fundraising for Mini-THON. A similar fundraiser was held at MOD Pizza back in October, which raised $343.

THONvelopes is another fundraiser that was done earlier in the year. Members of Mini-THON wrote down addresses of any family, relatives or friends they wanted to mail letters to inform them of Mini-THON’s incentives and goals. Those letters also contained information on how to donate money. Around $210 was raised from that fundraiser alone, showing that even just spreading the word to close family and friends can have an immense impact.

On Saturday, Feb. 17, students Ryan Sajwan (Grade 12) and Arin Sajwan (Grade 9) along with Mr. Colacito, Mini-THON’s adviser, traveled to University Park to attend the Penn State Mini-THON Appreciation breakfast. They were given the opportunity to meet with other advisers and students who take part in Mini-THON and discuss different ideas for fundraising money. While they were there, they learned that THON at Penn State had raised around $17 million. It was an insightful experience that demonstrated THON’s importance and value.

For anyone interested in donating to Mini-THON, the link to donate money is https://fourdiamonds.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.event&;eventID=4013. Any amount is appreciated as all of the proceeds go towards lesseningthe financial burden children and their families face due to childhood cancer.