Penn State (Greek) students involved in fatal accident after THON canning weekend

[ASTalumna06]

https://onwardstate.com/2015/09/27/p...state-college/

Penn State students en route back to State College after this weekend’s canning trip were involved in a a single-car accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike travelling westbound. According to the Associated Press, the accident included one fatality. That person’s the identity has not been released. According to Onward State sources, students involved in the accident were with the sorority Alpha Chi Omega and fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon.

Sadly, this is the third time this has happened in the last 4 or 5 years. I believe they actually pushed canning trips up this year so that students wouldn't have to battle with bad weather. I'm not sure if that's what caused it (is it already snowing up that way?), but you never can prevent these things from happening entirely.

[DGTess]

What is a canning trip? Is that where they go far afield from school to stand on street corners? If so, I was amazed to see half a dozen or so in McLean, Virginia yesterday.

I had known THON was big, but it surprised me to see students way down here.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by DGTess

What is a canning trip? Is that where they go far afield from school to stand on street corners? If so, I was amazed to see half a dozen or so in McLean, Virginia yesterday.

I had known THON was big, but it surprised me to see students way down here.

Yes, canning is how THON makes a huge portion of its money. I spent many weekends canning around Erie - basically just standing on designated street corners asking for donations.

Students drive out-of-state to reach as many people as possible.

If you see anyone holding one of these cans, please donate! Students make great efforts to raise as much money as possible. Sadly, some of them have lost their life along the way.

FTK!

[amillionlights]

Oh no. Prayers for all those involved.

[ASTalumna06]

The student who died was an Alpha Chi Omega. Thoughts going out to her friends, family, and AXO sisters

http://news.psu.edu/story/372059/201...n-canning-trip

[33girl]

The weather is fine (it was in the 70s this weekend). There may have been construction or something on the turnpike but I'd think they'd mention that.

[LionTamer]

The weather was actually okay - overcast, but not rainy. I was in the area at the time, and heard the Turnpike was shut down, but didn't imagine this.

On the downside, You have a lot of young, inexperienced drivers on the road in packed vehicles. That's why they instituted a lot of new rules to keep the kids on these road trips safe.

On the upside, you have young people (working in groups for safety) talking to the public, explaining the charity, and visiting different parts of PA and surrounding states, and raising lots of money for a good cause (childhood cancer). They raised so much that their initial goal has been met and they were able to tackle new challenges (Initial goal: taking away all extraneous expenses from the families of pediatric cancer patients, #2 building a pediatric cancer wing at Hershey Medical Ctr, #3 setting up satellite clinics in small town in PA so not everyone needs to travel to Hershey for treatment)

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Tally Sepot, the Alpha Chi who was killed, and the young people in the car who were injured and/or traumatized.

The alums have started a GoFundMe in her honor - read about it here: http://onwardstate.com/2015/09/28/al...f-tally-sepot/

[BlueCarnation]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Yes, canning is how THON makes a huge portion of its money. I spent many weekends canning around Erie - basically just standing on designated street corners asking for donations.

Students drive out-of-state to reach as many people as possible.

If you see anyone holding one of these cans, please donate! Students make great efforts to raise as much money as possible. Sadly, some of them have lost their life along the way.

FTK!

I'm heart broken for my AXO sisters at Penn State, and her family and friends. A pledge sister was killed in a car crash during my sophomore year and it was devastating; I'm so sad for our PSU chapter, as well as the TKEs and everyone involved.

I didn't realize what canning was, but read that this is not the first fatality. I know you can't keep everyone safe all the time...It's just a real tragedy for everyone.

[amillionlights]

Originally Posted by LionTamer

The alums have started a GoFundMe in her honor - read about it here: http://onwardstate.com/2015/09/28/al...f-tally-sepot/

Thank you for posting that link!

[MaggieXi]

This is terrible!
I will say, I live in PA. The canning was out of control last Saturday. While I appreciate what the students are doing and that THON is a wonderful event - the antics (ie running out into the middle of moving traffic to dance in costumes) of some of the canners in the middle of busy roads was not appreciated.

[ASTalumna06]

Police Report Indicates No Seatbelt, Reckless Driving In Accident:

http://onwardstate.com/2015/09/29/po...g-in-accident/

[3StringedLyre]

RIP, Tally, and LITB. This is horrible. :-/