Fourth Annual Taps Cares For Kids With Cancer a Tremendous Success

Taps Pub of Oak Forest recently added another chapter to its growing reputation for giving to children and teens fighting cancer. The bar sponsored its fourth annual Taps Cares for Kids with Cancer event on Saturday, November 7th in memory of Alyssa Marie Kent who passed away at age 17 after her battle with leukemia. The popular fundraiser included food, live musical entertainment from Rich Bohne with the Bob Mitchell Band, Johnny Heino with Superfly Redneck, Pat Halloran and Shawn Ei with Day Job, a lottery wheel, a split-the-pot raffle, Blackhawks tickets, a mini-fridge and over 60 raffle baskets that raised more than $4,300 for the Orland Park-based Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF). During the past four years the Taps Cares event has raised an impressive $13,000 to benefit the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation.

The Treasure Chest Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides comfort and distraction from painful procedures to children and teens diagnosed with cancer by providing a toy or gift card in 49 hospitals nationwide.

Michelle Fugiel, owner of Taps Pub and Alyssa’s aunt, said, “I remember going to the hospital with Alyssa and seeing all the children going through treatment. These children deserve to smile, and the Treasure Chest Foundation helps that happen.”

Toni Kent-Carlson, Alyssa’s mother, had a very personal reason to host the event and ultimately help ensure its success, remarking, “I am grateful everyone was here for Alyssa and I’m glad her memory lives on.”

No one was more impressed by the dedication and support from Taps Pub and the event attendees than the Treasure Chest Foundation’s Founder, Colleen M. Kisel. “What a marvelous donation,” Colleen said in appreciation. “The friends and family really came together in memory of Alyssa. The children and teens served by the Treasure Chest Foundation are truly blessed.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 9,300 young cancer patients each month in 49 hospitals across 17 states. Nowhere else in the nation does such a program exist. Ms. Kisel founded the organization in 1996 after her then seven-year-old son Martin had been diagnosed with leukemia in 1993. She 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 earlier this year.

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.