Hampton’s Talbot Thon exceeds fundraising goal by nearly $9,000

The goal of Hampton High School’s March 22 fundraiser was to generate $30,000.

“Our students and the Hampton community absolutely blew us away with their efforts in this year’s Talbot Thon!” the school district’s Facebook page reported the following day. “Last night’s grand reveal was $38,929.44.”

Talbot Thon’s beneficiary is UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, specifically its efforts in pediatric cancer treatment and research.

“Overall, it’s a really fun and uplifting experience,” Hampton senior Halee Pilarski said about the annual family-friendly event. “You get to see all of the community come together to fight a cause that really impacts a lot of people, such as my little brother.”

Will Pilarski died of a brain tumor in 2017. He would have been a high school sophomore this year.

To promote Talbot Thon, Halee produced a video telling Will’s story and encouraging the Hampton community to participate. The effort apparently helped, as attendance resembled pre-covid levels.

“It really means a lot, especially my last year here, to see the turnout,” Halee said.

Fellow senior Hayden List, student body president, was similarly impressed and credited preparation for the event’s success.

“We spent a great amount of time before the event planning and scheduling. It takes a lot of effort, a lot of time, to put things together,” he said. “Advertising was a big thing that we were working on, trying to get the word out for a great cause like this.”

Talbot Thon featured numerous activities throughout the school, from traditional volleyball and dodgeball tournaments to new offerings such as bocce and a freshman-suggested duck hunt, with guests searching for small yellow replicas in hopes of winning a prize.

For the event, Hampton’s student council partnered with the Pitt Dance Marathon, which took place March 23 and raised $357,084.52 on behalf of the UPMC Children’s Hospital Foundation.