Palos Heights Girl Scout Troop 55657 Helps Kids with Cancer

Girl Scouts require the leadership and planning skills necessary to make a positive impact in the community. That is exactly what the members of Girl Scout Troop 55657, from Palos East Elementary School in Palos Heights, did when they collected $815 and purchased $815 worth of gift cards to benefit the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF). The gift cards will comfort teens fighting cancer across the nation.

The Girl Scout’s mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place by helping other people who are in need especially this time of year when the spirit of giving is upon us.

Girl Scout Troop Leader Meghan Sterling said, “I am connected with a local theatre group, The Palos Village Players. The Palos Village Players needed a group to provide concession for three days. Our girls made posters, baked goods, sold split-the-pot and worked the room. When the last split-the-pot ticket was sold we raised $815 for the Treasure Chest Foundation.”

“The Treasure Chest Foundation is especially grateful to Girl Scout Troop 55657 for their gift of service,” said Treasure Chest Founder Colleen Kisel. “Not only do we appreciate the girls’ hard work, but we are so happy to be a part of this wonderful organization which is dedicated to making the world a better place. The Treasure Chest Foundation is a better place because of Girl Scout Troop 55657.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 13,300 young cancer patients enduring 20,000 clinic visits each month in 19 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 26th 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 web site at www.treasurechest.org.

Photo caption (L-R): The proud members of Palos Heights Girl Scout Troop 55657 Lia Dinlasan, Piper Sterling, Sawyer Sterling, Addison Wiersma, Dorian Urquizo, Gabriella Espinoza, Grace Lewandowski, and Themi Koutsoupias take a break from labeling the gift cards they collected for teens fighting cancer at the Treasure Chest Foundation’s Orland Park warehouse. (Not pictured): Leaders Meghan Sterling and Sarah Wiersma.