Carl Sandburg National Honor Society Students Help Children and Teens Fighting Cancer

Carl Sandburg High School students are giving back to children and teens fighting cancer by hosting a Holiday Toy Drive to benefit the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF). The holiday toy drive collected $170 in gift cards, over 100 items for teens and 1000’s of toys for children fighting cancer.

Carl Sandburg High School student and National Honor Society member Alyssa Jacobs, who has pitched in as a volunteer at the Treasure Chest Foundation’s Orland Park warehouse, had positive reactions to her experience. Alyssa said, “The National Honor Society is about giving back to the community. We are extremely honored to donate to such a good cause.”

POTCF Founder and CEO Colleen Kisel is grateful for the Carl Sandburg High School National Honor Society’s enormous donation. Colleen said, “We are incredibly proud of the Carl Sandburg National Honor Society students like Alyssa who willingly made the decision to help children and teens fighting cancer.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 10,000 young cancer patients each month in 18 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 23rd anniversary of remission from the disease in 2016.

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:

Pictured (left to right): Carl Sandburg High School Students and National Honor Society Members Zach Marshall, Maddie Walter and Alyssa Jacobs display a few of the items collected for children and teens fighting cancer at Carl Sandburg High School holiday toy drive drop-off location.