First annual Mitch Kline Cav-A-Thon proves to be a huge success

By Connor Tustin
April 9, 2018

At a spring 2017 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee meeting, Cabrini senior Brittany Runyen pitched an idea to the committee for a new, student-run event. Only one year after first brainstorming the event, it would raise more than $19,000 for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Runyen’s idea was to bring the popular dance marathon concept to Cabrini University.

“The idea came to me right after Penn State completed their THON,” Runyen said. “It’s so cool to see what they do and I thought to myself: ‘Why can’t we do something like that?'”

Ryan Brong, a junior Student-Athlete Advisory Committee member, loved Runyen’s idea of bringing the event to Cabrini. The moment he heard about the concept, Brong wanted to play a major role in the planning. Runyen and Brong would eventually became the two overall captains in charge of spearheading the first ever Mitch Kline Cav-A-Thon.

The decision to name the event after former Cabrini softball coach Mitch Kline came a few months after his passing. The event would honor a man who gave his heart and soul to not only the Cabrini athletic department, but to cancer research. To the committee, it was only right to name an event focusing on cancer research in Kline’s honor.

Students writing who they will dance for at Cav-A-Thon. Photo from Cabrini University Flickr.

As planning begun, Runyen and Brong set the goals which they wanted to reach by hosting the event. Although raising money for pediatric cancer was the main goal, there was much more that the two captains wanted to accomplish.

“As athletes we are always looking for ways to give back to the community,” Brong said. “We also wanted to bring the school together to rally behind one common cause.”

“To go back on the old Cabrini slogan, we really wanted to do something extraordinary,” Runyen said.

In the months leading up to the event, committee teams were formed to start the process of raising money. A full week before the actual event was even held, the committees goal of $10,000 for pediatric cancer research patients at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia was already reached.

Scialfa and Lynn help with registration at Cav-A-Thon. Photo from Cabrini University Flickr.

When the day finally had come, over 150 students, athletes, faculty and staff all gathered proudly on March 24 to attend the first Mitch Kline Cav-A-Thon. The event ran from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. that night, giving all those who attended the opportunity to dance, play games and spend time together.

“I wanted to dance tonight at Cav-A-Thon to let kids know that they can win their battle with cancer,”  Amanda Lynn, a freshman early childhood and special education major, said.

During his opening remarks for the event, Brong informed the crowd that no one in the Nerney Field House would be allowed to sit until 12 a.m. The Field House was full of games like corn hole, water pong, Jenga, Connect Four and more to keep everyone in attendance on their feet for the full six hours.

Cav-A-Thon captain Ryan Brong addresses the crowd as the event begins. Photo from Cabrini University Flickr.

“It’s great just to come out as a college campus and stand on our feet for a few hours for kids battling cancer,” Selena Scialfa, a sophomore early childhood and special education major, said.

In addition to all of the fun and games, the Cav-A-Thon committee welcomed a family to the event who has been affected by pediatric cancer. Three-year-old Jaxson and his family were given the opportunity to come and spend the night with the Cabrini community. Jaxson is just one of the thousand’s of children who will benefit from the money raised for the event.

“After talking to his mom about everything, Jaxson will never be able to say he is cancer-free,” Runyen said. “But to know that a little kid like Jaxson had fun running around with a bunch of college kids for a couple hours and felt like a normal kid was truly the main goal we wanted to reach.”

A luminare dedicated to Cav-A-Thon’s guest of honor, Jaxson. Photo from Cabrini University Flickr.

Due to the success of hosting Jaxson and his family, the committee is hopeful to get more families like Jaxson’s involved for next years event.

“A family like Jaxson’s was the best base family that we could have ever started this with,” Runyen said.

After six straight hours of dancing and games, members of the committee took to the stage to reveal the final amount of money raised for the first ever Cav-A-Thon.

In total, the event raised $19,001.13, with all proceeds benefiting pediatric cancer.

Thanks to the success of this years event, a tentative date next March has already been set for the second annual Cav-A-Thon. The committee is already in the planning stages for next year and is hoping for an even bigger result the second time around.

Students dancing for a cure to pediatric cancer at Cav-A-Thon. Photo from Cabrini University Flickr.

“There are certain things within the fundraising aspect we can build on by starting much earlier,” Brong said. “We are going to have the entire year to fundraise, compared to the few months before this years event and we still almost doubled our goal.”

Cav-A-Thon proved to be a huge success for not only the students involved, but the Cabrini community as a whole. The committee is looking to gain a lot more involvement from the student body and alumni, in hopes of making next years event even more successful.

“We are looking at how we can enhance what we did this year to make next year more spectacular in a big way,” Brong said.

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Connor Tustin

Cabrini University Class of 2020 | Loquitur Editor-in-Chief for 2018-2019 school year | Former Assistant Sports Editor |

LinkedIn: Connor Tustin
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