Penn State THON Cancels Canning Weekend After Student's Death

An upcoming “canning weekend” to raise money for Penn State’s THON has been called off a week after a student died following a similar fundraising effort.

The second canning weekend for THON 2016, which was scheduled for October 23-25, has been suspended, Penn State’s THON organizers said. ”Canning” is a fundraising practice in which students stand in the street for donations to THON, which supports childhood cancer.

THON Executive Director Katie Mailey made the announcement Monday, about a week after Tally Sepot, 19, was killed in an accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike after returning home from canning with her peers.

“This past week, we have received multiple emails and calls from community members concerned with volunteer safety. We want to make sure we carefully consider these concerns and take the necessary time to evaluate how to make our fundraising practices safer for the future of our organization,” Mailey said in a letter.

Mailey said the suspension of the activity is to “ensure that the safety and welfare of our volunteers remains the top priority of our organization.”

“We are working to implement additional safety procedures, and will update our volunteers as soon as possible,” the letter said. The third canning weekend is scheduled for November 13-15.

“Additionally, the next few months will be used to conduct a full review of the safety procedures surrounding canning. This is a multi-faceted challenge that will take much of this year to adequately evaluate and we will be working with organizations to ensure all aspects of canning are reviewed. It is our goal to address concerns raised about travel safety in the coming weeks while continuing to address all aspects of canning in the coming months. Safety is our top priority and we will continue to uphold the duty of ensuring the safety of our volunteers.”

The upcoming canning weekend is suspended all the university’s campuses, NBC10 reported.

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