Mortgage Lender Delivers Holiday Joy to Children with Cancer

Willow Springs Mortgage Lender Matt Medinger came through in the spirit of the holiday season when he delivered a shipment of toys to the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation warehouse in Orland Park.

Matt Medinger said, “I am a mortgage lender and I reached out to Realtors, friends and clients for donations. We had around 15 people donate including myself. I decided to help the Treasure Chest Foundation because I could only imagine how hard it is to have cancer, let alone as a child. I thought especially around the holidays that if I could bring a little happiness into their day it’s the least I could do.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 14,600 young cancer patients in 61cancer 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 web site at www.treasurechest.org.