Faith United Methodist Church in Orland Park Benefits Children

In the spirit of giving, the parishioners of Faith United Methodist Church in Orland Park are helping children and teens fighting cancer. The congregation committed to donating their entire Christmas Eve offering to be divided between two organizations that help children. The Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation was overjoyed to receive $3,750 to directly benefit children and teens served by the foundation.

Faith United Methodist Church in Orland Park is a church family dedicated to bringing people to Jesus Christ through worship, education, mission and fellowship. Mission Committee Chairperson Genie Lang said, “We know that the Treasure Chest Foundation helps children who are going through cancer treatments all over the country. We want to help the community. Our focus was to help children.”

Treasure Chest Foundation CEO and Founder Colleen Kisel expressed her profound gratitude for the generous support shown by the Faith United Methodist Church parishioners. “The Treasure Chest Foundation is especially grateful to the Faith United Methodist Church for their enormous donation of $3,750,” said an appreciative Ms. Kisel. “It is wonderful to see the giving members of this church come together to help little ones whose lives have become filled with doctors, nurses, surgeries, pills, chemotherapy, radiation and mostly painful, painful procedures.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 14,600 young cancer patients in 62 cancer treatment centers in 20 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 27th anniversary of remission from the disease in March of 2020.

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 website at www.treasurechest.org.