Lemont Realty Executives Elite are Making it Their

The employees at Realty Executives Elite in Lemont are making it their business when it comes to children and teens fighting cancer. When the local real estate agency recently hosted an open house, and asked their guests to bring a toy donation, more than 100 people arrived at the Lemont location for pictures with Santa, refreshments and a chance to win a $250 Target gift card. When the festive occasion had concluded, the drive had accumulated more than 160 toys on behalf of the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF) to directly benefit children fighting cancer.

The Orland Park-based Treasure Chest Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide comfort to children and teens diagnosed with cancer by providing toys from a treasure chest. Realty Executives Elite in Lemont is one of the area’s leading real estate agencies, offering residential and commercial real estate, rentals, foreclosures and more to residents of Lemont, Lockport, Homer Glen, Orland Park and surrounding areas since 1998. When asked about the toy drive, Realty Executives Elite Owner Chris Budz said, “We are always looking for fun local charities to support during the holidays and to give back to the community.”

Treasure Chest Foundation CEO and Founder Colleen Kisel said, “We are extremely grateful to Owner Chris Budz and the entire Realty Executives Elite family. It is amazing to receive such a tremendous donation, especially during our important holiday toy drive season.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 13,000 young cancer patients enduring 20,000 clinic visits each month in 19 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 24th 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.

Photo caption:

(Pictured left to right): Lemont Realty Executives Elite toy delivery team members Megan Beechen, Kathy McKendry, Kevin Kwit, Chris Budz, Dan Gleason, Cathy Litoborski and Eric Basiorka are shown at the Treasure Chest Foundation’s Orland Park facility with toys collected to benefit children and teens with cancer.