By 1979, the popular event outgrew the ballroom and moved to the White Building, and then to Rec Hall in 1999, and finally the Bryce Jordan Center in 2007. Four decades after that first dance marathon, THON has grown into the largest student-run philanthropic organization in the country. For 46 hours each February, dancers, moralers, Four Diamonds families, and members of the town and gown communities pack the BJC for the no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon. In 2015, THON raised $13 million for the Four Diamonds Fund. In the mid-1970s, a group of State College women gathered to discuss the need to help local women who were victims of domestic violence or sexual assault. Out of that discussion came the Centre County Women’s Resource Center (CCWRC), which has been providing services since 1978. A major expansion to its emergency Sylvia Stein Shelter opened in 2000. During the 2014-15 fiscal year, CCWRC provided 1,148 domesticviolence victims and significant others with services, including shelter, transitional housing, counseling, and assistance with protection orders. The organization also provided sexual-assault counseling and other services to 368 individuals and stalker services to 146 people. To help prevent future problems, CCWRC conducts a variety of
ClearWater Conservancy has been protecting natural lands in Centre County since 1980. 30 - T&G November 2015
community education programs, including school programs ranging from puppet shows with safety messaging for kindergarteners to dating-violence prevention programs for teens. The 1980s began with the founding of two local environmental organizations. Since July 1980, ClearWater Conservancy has protected 8,362 acres of natural lands through conservation easements and partnerships, planted more than 77,000 linear feet of riparian buffers, removed 5.8 million pounds of trash from sinkholes and illegal dump sites, and sent 15,000 students on field trips to Millbrook Marsh Nature Center in State College. Meanwhile, in 1981, the Lion’s Paw Alumni Association formed the Mount Nittany Conservancy to acquire land surrounding the summit of the regional landmark and protect it from development. Today, members of the community can hike more than 800 acres of protected land. The Food Bank of the State College Area Inc. began operating “temporarily” out of the basement of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in 1982. Twenty-five years later, the organization finally moved to larger quarters at Hamilton Square Plaza and then, in 2014, to a dedicated facility on South Atherton Street. Along with the move, the Food Bank launched the Client Choice distribution model, allowing clients to choose the food they receive, rather