Westmont Eagle Scout Gives Back to the Treasure Chest Foundation

The Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation was recently awarded more than 536 toys, gifts for teens and $50 in gift cards thanks to the tireless work of Westmont teenager Thomas Niemeyer (age 17). Thomas organized, implemented and coordinated a collection of toys and gifts while witnessing a fantastic level of support from the Westmont community. Thomas passed the toy drive to the National Honor Society at Westmont High School to be continued for the next five years. As a result of Thomas’s efforts, he attained Eagle Scout status, the highest rank attainable by members of the Boy Scouts of America. Thomas is a member of Westmont Pathway to Adventure Council Boy Scout Troop #6.

Thomas Niemeyer was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor when he was seven years old and was treated at Ronald McDonald Children's Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. When asked what motivated Thomas to give back to the Treasure Chest Foundation Thomas said, “The Treasure Chest helped me get through a very hard time in my life. I wanted to repay the Treasure Chest Foundation for their generosity.” Thomas’s mom Karen chimed in by saying, “Thinking back about what my son had to go through while undergoing treatment for cancer, it was nice to know he was able to pick out a toy for himself or his sister along the way.”

POTCF Founder and CEO Colleen Kisel said, “We feel so blessed to have the support of Thomas Niemeyer’s friends and the Westmont community Today the Niemeyer family has given back to the Treasure Chest Foundation, and for that, we are extremely grateful.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 16,100 young cancer patients in 66 cancer treatment centers in 21 states across the nation and in 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. 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 30th anniversary of remission from the disease in March of this year.

If you would like further information about the Treasure Chest Foundation, please contact Colleen Kisel at 1-708-687-TOYS (8697) or visit the Foundation’s website at www.treasurechest.org.