Northwest School “Kindness and Compassion” Club Hosts Toy Drive to Benefit Children with Cancer

Members of the KC (Kindness and Compassion) Club at Northwest School in Evergreen Park and their families gave back to children fighting cancer recently by sponsoring a toy drive to benefit the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF). The Orland Park-based, non-profit organization provides comfort and distraction from painful procedures to children and teens diagnosed with cancer by providing toys and gift cards in 46 hospitals nationwide.

Evergreen Park Northwest School students and staff collected over 275 items, including gift cards, for children fighting cancer. The KC Club is part of Rachel’s Challenge, a series of student empowering programs and strategies that equip students and adults to combat bullying and allay feelings of isolation and despair by creating a culture of kindness and compassion. The program was first adopted by Northwest School’s district this year.

Northwest School Social Worker, Annette Keating said, “We want to help kids who are undergoing cancer treatment at Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital, which is located near our school.”

POTCF CEO and Founder Colleen Kisel expressed her profound gratitude for the generous support shown by the children and families of the KC Club. “The Treasure Chest Foundation is especially grateful to the Northwest School families for their enormous donation of toys, gifts and gift cards,” said Ms. Kisel. “Because of their generosity, our Foundation will continue to support thousands of children and teens, monthly, at Hope Children’s Hospital. God bless the children at Northwest School.”

The POTCF’s unique services impact more than 9,000 young cancer patients each month in 46 hospitals across 16 states nationwide and the District of Columbia. 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 21st anniversary of remission from the disease in early 2014.

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.