THON 2015: What’s In Your Fanny Pack?

THON is the only weekend of the year where there is no such thing as too much bedazzle, bright colors and mismatched high socks. It is the weekend for super puffy tutus, crazy haircuts, wacky hats and of course, decked out fanny packs. What’s awesome about fanny packs is that they hold the essentials for THON weekend such as hand sanitizer, chap stick, student ID card, money, etc. But each student has different needs when it comes to staying awake and staying on their feet for long periods of time, so what exactly are students storing away in those fancy fanny packs this year to keep them going for 46?

We took a glance inside some of the fanny packs that really caught our attention.

Rebecca Camp, 13, bedazzled her fanny pack with bright pinks, purples, blues and yellows and finished the design with a cute little panda key chain. Camp packed her fanny pack with her phone, a charger, a water gun and her favorite Sour Patch Watermelon Stride Gum. “But one pack of sour patch gum won’t get me through the whole weekend — I need 15!” says Camp.

Sophomore dancer relations committee member, Harte Olechowski, showed off her patriotism this year with a sparkly USA flag design covering her fanny pack. Olechowski has all the essentials of a good DRCM such as chap stick, a tennis ball, hand sanitizer and mints. But she also stored away one of her favorite snacks for THON weekend, Nutella and pretzels.

Atlas member, Mikayla Voller, stopped in the midst of her water gun fight to show off her bright red fanny pack decorated with ribbons and sequins spelling out “FTK.” Voller likes to keep her wallet, chap stick, her inhaler, extra hair ties and hand sanitizer at hand for the weekend. “I normally always have a granola bar and I had a banana but I already ate both of them!” says Voller.

Senior and dancer, Jenn Cronley, has a strange combination of objects in her sparkly star-themed fanny pack. “Uh, I just have a whole lot of phone chargers!” Cronley says as she pulls a bundle of chargers from the front pocket. “I had my own and then they broke, so then I had to borrow one from my friend!” says Cronely knowing that 46 hours without a charged phone is a long time.

Independent dancer pair and 5th year seniors Mike Foley and Meaghan McLaughlin decorated their fanny packs this year for their THON children. “What’s in my fanny pack? The letters that I lost off my bag! I have my THON children on the side for both of my organizations and I had empower the dreamers but it’s slowly falling off. So I’m collecting little letters in my fanny pack along with my phone, tissues and a mini fan,” says McLaughlin.

The THON 2015 dance floor is decorated with fun fanny packs of all shapes, sizes and designs. From their favorite snacks to a picture of their THON child, each THON volunteer, dancer and family member like to keep their important things close to help keep them strong for the weekend.