To the Editor:

Newtown, you never cease to impress and humble me. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to host a group of nine college students in town for a weekend to raise money and awareness to fight pediatric cancer. Though we represented The Penn State Dance Marathon and the Four Diamonds Fund, charities few had heard of, many of you still opened your wallets to help pay for pediatric cancer treatment. I would like to take a moment to thank all who donated to the fight against childhood cancer or offered kind words of encouragement.

I would especially like to thank the local businesses who offered up their storefronts to allow my friends and me to collect donations. To Bagel Delight, Newtown Mobil, the Blue Colony Diner, the Sandy Hook Diner, Panera Bread, TJ Maxx, Olympia Sports, Kings Diner, Café Xpresso, Newtown Hardware, Jacqueline's Bakery of Bethel, and Walmart of Danbury: your generosity and openness directly made an impact in the life of a child fighting cancer.

As a group we were able to raise $3000 over two days. This amounts to 33 hours of psychological consultation for families of children undergoing treatment, 20 days of outpatient pediatric leukemia treatment, ten wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment, or four experiments at the Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital in search of a cure.

Thank you to all for showing your true colors to a bunch of college students.

For The Kids,

Sam Boland

66 Taunton Hill Road, Newtown        November 2, 2016