Mount Greenwood Man Helps Kids with Cancer

Mount Greenwood man Dan Ritchie lends a helping hand at the warehouse of the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF). The Orland Park-based non-profit organization provides comfort and distraction from painful treatments to children and teens diagnosed with cancer by providing a toy or gift card in 59 hospitals nationwide.

Dan helped organize, pack, and prepare the toys and gifts for shipment to Treasure Chests located in the various children’s cancer treatment centers served by the Foundation. POTCF CEO and Founder Colleen Kisel noted Dan personally prepared more than 535 pounds’ worth of toys for shipping enough to stock at least six hospitals or children’s cancer treatment centers for the next several weeks.

The work itself is seldom easy and typically a physically challenging job of lifting and stacking the boxes once they are ready to be shipped to their ultimate destinations. Dan Ritchie recognizes the importance of the task, with Dan saying, “Always happy to do a good deed for someone else.”

Ms. Kisel showed her appreciation for Dan’s loyalty and hard work, saying, “Volunteers like Dan is the life blood of our Foundation. Without Dan we would never be able to provide smiles of joy to thousands of young cancer patients every month. We are so grateful that Dan is willing to take time to be here and his contributions over the years have been incredible.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 14,000 young cancer patients enduring 20,000 clinic visits each month in 20 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 27th anniversary of remission from the disease in March.

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:

Mount Greenwood resident Dan Ritchie pauses next to one of ten, 40-50-pound boxes of toys he has prepared for shipping to young cancer patients on behalf of the Treasure Chest Foundation. His volunteer efforts will bring smiles of comfort and joy to thousands of children and teens battling cancer across the nation.