The Pediatric Oncology
Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF) will hold its Fifth Annual Treasuring Our
Kids Sport-A-Palooza on Saturday, April 5 from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at
Chicago Gaelic Park, 6119 W. 147th Street in Oak Forest. The
Treasure Chest Foundation is an Orland Park-based, not-for-profit organization
that provides comfort and distraction from painful procedures to children and
teens diagnosed with cancer by providing a toy or gift card in 46 hospitals
nationwide.
The Sport-A-Palooza will
help the Treasure Chest Foundation obtain the necessary funding to aid children
battling cancer throughout Chicagoland and across the nation. Every year,
approximately 13,500 children and teens are diagnosed with cancer nationwide
and cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease in children under the
age of 15 in the United States.
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This year’s gala will offer
exciting auctions beginning at 6:00 p.m., with the event’s featured prizes
including four Walt Disney World one-day park hopper passes and a Gibson Les
Paul guitar valued at $3,200. A buffet dinner at 7:00
p.m. will be followed by a festive night of music during which guests can
showcase their dancing skills while enjoying an open bar and delicious food in
a fun-filled setting. Sport-A-Palooza attendees will also have a chance to meet
and greet baseball legend Dan Pasqua, a former member of the New York Yankees
and Chicago White Sox.
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The Treasure
Chest Foundation is asking individuals and businesses to donate an auction or
raffle prize, making it a great
opportunity to gain exposure while supporting a worthy cause. To arrange for a
pickup call 708-687-TOYS (8697) or drop off your donation at the Treasure Chest
Foundation’s new warehouse at 15430 70th Court in Orland Park.
Tickets to the
Fifth Annual Treasuring Our Kids Sport-A-Palooza are $40 (adults) and $20 (kids
under 12). To learn more about the Treasure Chest Foundation and to obtain
tickets to this important fundraiser, please contact Colleen Kisel at
708-687-TOYS (8697) or visit the Foundation’s web site at
www.treasurechest.org.
The POTCF’s
unique services impact more than 9,000 young cancer patients each month in 46
hospitals across 16 states and the District of Columbia. Nowhere else in the
nation does such a program exist. Colleen Kisel founded the organization in
1996 after her then seven-year-old son Martin had been diagnosed with leukemia
in 1993. She discovered that giving her son a toy after each procedure provided
a calming distraction from his pain and his new world filled with doctors,
nurses, chemotherapy drugs, surgeries and seemingly endless painful procedures.
Martin will celebrate his 21st anniversary of remission from the
disease in early 2014.
