Orland Park Chick-fil-A Teams Up to Help Children and Teens with

Chick-fil-A Restaurant in Orland Park hosted a “Cookies for the Kids” fundraiser throughout the month of June. For each Chocolate Chunk Cookie Chick-fil-A sold the restaurant donated 90% of the proceeds to benefit the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF), an Orland Park-based, non-profit organization which provides toys and gift cards to childhood cancer patients. After the last cookie was sold Chick-fil-A raised $6,021.07 for children and teens fighting cancer.

Chick-fil-A is one of the largest American fast food restaurant chains and the largest whose specialty is chicken sandwiches. Their mission is to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to them.

Chick-fil-A Marketing Manager Michael Christy said “It was not me that brought me to the Treasure Chest Foundation, it was God. I pray to be a tool and do God’s will.” Team Player Amani Nimer chimed in and said, “I was excited to help and to get the word out.” Kevin Tesher, the Team Member who sold more than 1000 cookies had this to say, “I wasn’t able to participate in the annual Relay for Life event. This is my way to help kids fighting cancer.”

Treasure Chest Foundation CEO and Founder Colleen Kisel expressed her gratitude to Chick-fil-A for their support. “Having such a successful fundraiser is a true blessing,” said Ms. Kisel. “I am so appreciative of the unbelievable support of Chick-fil-A. Money raised from the fundraiser will help our Foundation put smiles on the faces of young cancer patients.”

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:

Chick-fil-A Team Members (L - R) Amani Nimer, Marketing Manager Michael Christy and Kevin Tesher present the Treasure Chest Foundation with a check for $6,021.07 at the Treasure Chest Foundation’s Orland Park warehouse. Their impressive donation will make a difference for brave cancer patients nationwide.

Not pictured: Orland Park Chick-fil-A Owners and Operators Kevin and Jennifer Skarin