Fish Tales Fishing Club Nets Huge Catch of Toys and Gift Cards for Treasure Chest Foundation

Fish Tales Fishing Club in Oak Forest netted over 200 toys and gift cards recently to benefit the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF) during the Fishing Club’s annual Christmas Party. The Orland Park-based non-profit organization provides comfort and distraction from painful treatments to children and teens diagnosed with cancer by providing a toy or gift card in 45 hospitals nationwide.

Fish Tales Fishing Club (www.fishtalesfishingclub.com) is an organization of men and women who meet monthly to discuss fishing techniques, conduct seminars about local lakes and to support the South Suburban Special Recreation Association by organizing weekly fishing trips throughout the summer.

Fish Tales Fisherman Casey Orlowski said, “The Fish Tales Fishing Club is a family oriented club always looking to support our community. The Treasure Chest Foundation provides a lot of happiness to children fighting cancer, as well as their families, so this is a natural fit.”

Treasure Chest Foundation CEO and Founder Colleen Kisel expressed her gratitude for the generous support shown by the Fishing Club members. “Fred Howes, Casey Orlowski and all of the Fish Tales Fishing Club members have been in our corner for five years. Each passing year their toy and gift card drive is bigger and better,” said an appreciative Ms. Kisel. “The Fishing Club’s tremendous support will brighten the lives of so many brave children and teens battling cancer.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 8,600 young cancer patients each month in 16 states across the nation. 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. 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.

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