Saint Spyridon Church Sunday School Benefits Kids with Cancer

In the spirit of giving, the Sunday School children of Saint Spyridon Hellenic Orthodox Church in Palos Heights are helping children and teens fighting cancer. The kids recently sponsored a toy and gift card drive to benefit the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF). The children collected toys and $120 in gift cards to help children and teens fighting cancer.

Saint Spyridon Church Sunday school is held during the regular school year (September through May). Grade levels are from Pre-School through 12th Grade.

Treasure Chest Foundation CEO and Founder Colleen Kisel expressed her profound gratitude for the generous support shown by the parishioners. “The Treasure Chest Foundation is especially grateful to the Saint Spyridon Hellenic Orthodox Church for their enormous donation of toys and gift cards,” said an appreciative Ms. Kisel, “It is wonderful to see the giving members of this church come together to help little ones fighting cancer.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 14,000 young cancer patients in 59 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 26th anniversary of remission from the disease in March of 2019.