Happy New Year Springfield!

I trust that everyone has enjoyed their break and is ready to come back to campus right? Right. Because when we get back to campus, there are less than 6 weeks until THON!

We have so much going on between now and then, and there is a LOT of information to get to you guys, so please be patient in reading this entire post because it is quite possibly the most important thing you will ever read!

First off, we have our merchandise designs and prices completed! Our THON weekend t-shirt design is finished and so is our Sweatshirt and Long Sleeve t-shirt designs. Also note our last year's red Coca-Cola Springfield t-shirt will be re-printed and sold for those who would like to purchase it as well! The prices for merchandise for this year are as follows:

Springfield THON weekend T-Shirt : $15
Springfield Sweatshirt : $25
Springfield Long Sleeve T-Shirt : $20
Springfield Coca-Cola Re-printed Shirt : $15

Also, we are unveiling an online merchandise store for those of you wishing to pay by credit card. Please know that this system has been tested multiple times by Springfield chairs and is completely secure. Ordering online is very simple. All you have to do is go to our Merchandise page, add the items you would like to the cart, and click on "Google Checkout" in the cart. This will take you to Google, where you will enter in your information. It will ask for your shipping address; just use your school addresses if you are in State College, as we will be handing them out at meetings in the usual manner instead of shipping them.

I want you all to know that these orders and payments need to be in to us in a very timely fashion so we can ensure that we have our merchandise - especially our THON weekend t-shirts. Because of this, all money for the orders will need to be in to us by Wednesday, Jan. 20. We will have a few days where chairs will be sitting in the HUB collecting money like we did last semester for t-shirts, so keep an eye out for that.

Canning weekend #3 is fast approaching! The third canning weekend is Jan. 22-24, and we are still looking for a lot more Springfielders to sign up! It is also extremely important that we get some more people who are able to drive that weekend. So please e-mail Brittney (kern.brittney@gmail.com) if you want to sign up for canning and/or if you can drive for Springfield for that weekend!

Also, for those of you who have yet to THONvelope, Vinay knows who you are! If you want to ensure that you are on Vinay's best friend list, you should make sure you collect addresses from your parents so we can send out letters to your friends, families and neighbors from Springfield for THONvelopes. Bring your addresses back to campus, or e-mail them to Vinay (vinay@psu.edu) and we will make sure they get sent out as soon as we get back to campus.

And...if there are people that you may not be as close to or comfortable sending a letter to, but you have their e-mail address, you can send an e-mail to them for Springfield through the THONline feature. In order to do this all you have to do is visit this link. On that page it will prompt you for your name and organization, which is "Springfield House." Then all you do is put the person's name and e-mail address on the next line and hit "Send," and it will send them an e-mail, which is basically just a THONvelope via e-mail! We all know how awesome THONvelopes are! E-mailing people you know can be a very effective method of fundraising for Springfield. Online donations are typically three times higher than those we would get through a THONvelope letter.

I want to introduce another huge fundraising opportunity that we are putting together that I am extremely excited about. Springfield will be conducting a sale in the HUB of items from "Ten Thousand Villages", which will consist of primarily jewelry and things of that sort. Cathy Perego (Springfield freshman) has graciously worked with her mom to make this happen for us where Springfield will make 20% of all profit made on the sale. This is an extremely generous opportunity that they have given us, and I want to make sure that we make the most of it. We will be tabling in the HUB for several days and there is also going to be a lot of set-up and clean-up involved. Quite honestly guys, this fundraiser has the potential to be a very successful one for us if a lot of effort is put into it!

We will be forming a committee for those interested in tabling in the HUB, setting up and taking down the display of jewelry and such, and for the promoting and advertising of the fundraiser itself. It is highly essential to get help from you guys for this event seeing how much potential it has, and this committee will be a great way for you to show some leadership skills in Springfield. If you would like to be involved in this initiative and this committee, please e-mail me (jcs5207@gmail.com).

A few other important things to make note of:

We will be having a meeting this Sunday (Jan. 10) at 8 p.m. in the Simmons Piano Lounge. If you have addresses for THONvelopes please bring them. If you would like to put in your orders for merchandise, please bring money to the meeting. We will also be bringing back "Penny Wars" at this meeting, and will continue doing so at each meeting up until THON weekend, so please bring your spare change to the meeting and continue to do so for each meeting upcoming this semester!

There are a few extremely important dates that you all need to be aware of. Springfield will be choosing it's 10 THON weeekend dancers at our meeting on Monday, Jan. 18 (that's less than two weeks away), which is one of the most important meetings of the year. You will want to make sure you are at this meeting so you can vote for who you think should be representing Springfield during THON weekend on the floor at the Bryce Jordan Center. It is extremely important that you send an e-mail (springfieldthon@gmail.com) by Friday, Jan. 15 expressing that you would like to be considered for dancing this year if you wish to be considered. This deadline will not be stretched, and there are no exceptions.

Also, on Sunday, Jan. 31, we will be selecting the 10 individuals who will be lucky enough to be with our THON weekend dancers on the floor for the Final Four hours of THON. For those of you who haven't been to THON yet, the final four hours are the most emotional and most meaningful of the entire weekend and being on the floor for Springfield during that time is considered a great honor. If you would like to be considered for a Final Four hour pass for Springfield, please send an e-mail (springfieldthon@gmail.com) by Friday, Jan. 29.

Keep in mind that for those of you wishing to be considered for dancing, and for those wishing to be considered for a Final Four Hour pass, you will need to make a short speech in front of Springfield at that particular meeting stating why you feel you are deserving of the honor.


Thank you so much guys for taking the time to read through this entire post. I for one cannot contain the excitement that is building up inside of me knowing that THON is now only about six weeks away, I hope you all share in my excitement. I can't wait to get back on campus and am looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday night! Thanks y'all.

-Jeff

Thursday, January 7, 2010