Area residents and
businesses have an opportunity this holiday season to support children and
teens fighting cancer by donating a new toy or gift during the Pediatric
Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF) annual Holiday Toy Drive.
The POTCF is a non-profit
organization that provides comfort and distraction from painful procedures to children
and teens diagnosed with cancer by providing a toy, gift or gift card in 45
hospitals nationwide. Nowhere else in the nation does such a program exist. CEO
Colleen Kisel founded the organization in 1996 after her then seven-year-old
son Martin had been diagnosed with leukemia in 1993. Ms. Kisel discovered that
giving her son a toy after each procedure provided a calming distraction from
his pain, noting that when children are diagnosed with cancer their world soon
becomes filled with doctors, nurses, chemotherapy drugs, surgeries and
seemingly endless painful procedures. Martin celebrated his 20th anniversary of
remission from the disease earlier this year.
Find out what's happening in Oak Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Ms. Kisel emphasized the
importance of the Foundation’s efforts by saying, “The toys we collect during
this Holiday Toy Drive will enable us to continue providing smiles of joy to
more than 8,600 children and teens monthly who are battling cancer across the
nation.”
Find out what's happening in Oak Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Unwrapped, brand new toys or
gifts may be dropped off until December 20th at these locations:
*Oak Forest City Hall, 15440
Central Avenue, Oak Forest
*FullServ Auto Care, 15436
S. Cicero Avenue, Oak Forest
If you would like further
information about the Treasure Chest Foundation, please contact Colleen Kisel
at 708-687-TOYS (8697) or visit the Foundation’s web site at: www.treasurechest.org
