Community Corner
National Junior Honor Society Collects Toys to Help Children
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Catholic School National Junior Honor Society Collects Toys to Help Children Fighting Cancer
The National Junior Honor Society requires a commitment to the values of scholarship, service, leadership, character and citizenship. That is exactly what the members of the 8th Grade National Junior Honor Society from Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Catholic School in Orland Hills did when they collected toys to benefit the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF). The toys will comfort children fighting cancer across the nation.
National Junior Honor Society member James Guyette said,” We wanted to help the Treasure Chest Foundation because it is a good cause, and the toys go to kids who need it.”
Treasure Chest Foundation Founder Colleen Kisel expressed her gratitude for the generous support shown by the 8th Grade Junior Honor Society from Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Catholic School. “The Treasure Chest Foundation is especially grateful to the Junior Honor Society for their enormous donation,” said Ms. Kisel. “I want the kids to know what a tremendous impact their toy donations will have on the children fighting cancer.”
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The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 14,600 young cancer patients in 62 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 28th anniversary of remission from the disease earlier this month.
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 website at www.treasurechest.org.
