Kids & Family
Palos Park Girl Donates Birthday Presents to Children Fighting Cancer
Birthday girl Sawyer Sterling (age 5) proudly smiles while big sister Piper (age 8) looks on amongst the display of the donated toys.
The family and friends of Sawyer Sterling are giving to children fighting cancer. Five-year-old Sawyer Sterling of Palos Park decided to ask friends and family to bring toys to her birthday party titled “Cinco de Sawyer Fiesta” for children fighting cancer. The birthday party was hosted at the Sawyer’s home and 70 friends and family attended. When the party was over, Sawyer accumulated over 100 toys to donate to The Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation. Sawyer said, “I donated my birthday gifts because I wanted to be nice and give presents to kids with cancer because they are brave.”
Sawyer’s Mom Meghan Sterling sent birthday invitations with the website information of the Treasure Chest Foundation so they can see for themselves all the good that is being done at the foundation. Meghan Sterling said, “Everyone loved the idea!”
“Hosting a toy drive to benefit children fighting cancer is such a wonderful idea. A special thanks to the Sterling Family and all their friends, they are a true inspiration,” said Colleen Kisel, Founder and CEO of the Treasure Chest Foundation.
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The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 12,500 young cancer patients enduring 20,000 clinic visits each month in 18 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 24th anniversary of remission from the disease earlier this year.
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.
