Leopardo Companies, Inc., Partner to Help Children with Cancer

The Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF) of Orland Park was overjoyed recently to receive an enormous donation of $5,000 from the Leopardo Companies Inc. of Hoffman Estates. The company donated $5,000 through the auspices of their Leopardo Charitable Foundation. The donation will directly benefit children and teens fighting cancer.

On October 3, 2019 the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest opened its 58th Treasure Chest Program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in memory of Tyler Duelm from La Grange, a childhood cancer patient who lost his battle. Tyler Duelm is the son of Brent Duelm Chief Financial Officer at Leopardo Companies Inc.

Leopardo Companies, Inc. is a recognized leader in construction with the resources to build world-class construction with innovative processes across every major sector. Founded in 1977, they have grown continuously and today employ more than 450 industry professionals in Hoffman Estates and Chicago offices, as well as on job sites across the nation.

Treasure Chest Foundation CEO and Founder Colleen Kisel said, “We feel so blessed and honored to have the support of Leopardo Companies, Inc. Their donation will help support children and teens at Mayo Clinic who endure long-lasting cancer treatments by rewarding the little ones with a toy, gift or gift card after every procedure.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 14,000 young cancer patients in 58 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 26th anniversary of remission from the disease in March of 2019.

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: Brent Duelm Chief Financial Officer at Leopardo Companies Inc. presents the donation of $5,000 from Leopardo Companies Inc. to Treasure Chest Foundation Founder and CEO Colleen Kisel (left) at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota while Nurse Amy Petersen (center) and Laura Duelm (right) looks on. Pediatric cancer patients in the Rochester, Minnesota area will now be able to select a toy from a Treasure Chest in memory of the Duelm family’s son and brother Tyler Duelm.