Beverly Area Husband and Wife Duo Helping Kids with Cancer

Beverly area husband and wife duo Dan and Diane Ritchie are giving back to children and teens fighting cancer by lending a helping hand at the warehouse of the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation. 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 49 hospitals nationwide. The Ritchie’s help organize, pack and prepare the toys and gifts for shipment to Treasure Chests located in the various children’s cancer treatment centers served by the Foundation. The work itself is seldom easy: both Dan and Diane performed physically challenging jobs of lifting and stacking the boxes once they’re ready to be shipped to their ultimate destinations.

Diane has been volunteering weekly since September of 2014. During the busy holiday season Diane brought in some muscle, husband Dan, to help out. Diane said, “Dan is the type of person that would do anything for anyone. He was on vacation and I told him I was going to my volunteer job and he wanted to help too.”

Ms. Kisel showed her appreciation for the pair’s loyalty and hard work, saying, “Volunteers like Diane and Dan are the life blood of our Foundation. Without them we would never be able to provide smiles of joy to thousands of young cancer patients every month. We are so grateful that the Ritchie’s are willing to take time to be here, and their contributions have been incredible.”

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 certificate in 49 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 22nd anniversary of remission from the disease in 2015.

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.

Photo caption:

Volunteers Dan and Diane Ritchie pause for a moment from preparing a shipment of toys at the Treasure Chest Foundation’s Orland Park warehouse. Their volunteer efforts will bring smiles of comfort and joy to thousands of children and teens battling cancer across the nation.