Lockport High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Cadets Collect Toys to Benefit Children Fighting Cancer

Lockport High School JROTC acronym for Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps is giving to children and teens fighting cancer. The High School JROTC, conducted a toy drive to assist the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation an Orland Park-based, non-profit organization which provides toys and gift cards to childhood cancer patients. The JROTC collected more than 800 toys.

JROTC Instructor Sgt. Steven Brown said, “It is our goal to support the community. I cannot think of a better cause than to help children fighting cancer.”

The objectives of JROTC are to educate and train high school cadets in citizenship, promote community service, instill responsibility, character, and self-discipline, and provide instruction in air and space fundamentals.

POTCF Founder and CEO Colleen Kisel said, “We are delighted by the support of the JROTC cadets who spearheaded such a successful toy drove. We are delighted to have their support.”

The not-for-profit Treasure Chest Foundation now supports more than 9,300 children and teens each month who are diagnosed with cancer by providing a toy or gift card in 49 hospitals nationwide. Nowhere else in the nation does such a program exist. CEO Colleen Kisel founded the organization in 1996 after her then seven-year-old son Martin had been diagnosed with leukemia in 1993. Colleen discovered that giving her son a toy after each procedure provided a calming distraction from his pain. Martin recently 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.