Tinley Park Brother and Sister Team Up to Help Kids with Cancer

Tinley Park brother and sister duo are giving to children fighting cancer. Seventeen-year-old Jim Subka and his fifteen-year-old sister Hayley Subka showed up to help, organize, label, pack and prepare the toys and gifts for shipment to Treasure Chests located in the various children’s cancer treatment centers served by the Foundation. Hayley Subka said, “I am happy to help during the busy holiday season.” Her brother Jim Subka chimed in by saying, “It makes me feel good to know I am helping children and teens battling cancer.”

Ms. Kisel showed her appreciation for the pair’s loyalty and hard work, saying, “Volunteers like Jim and Hayley are the life blood of our Foundation. Without them we would never be able to provide smiles of joy to thousands of young cancer patients every month. We are so grateful that the Subka’s are willing to take time to be here every holiday season and their contributions have been incredible.”

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 25th anniversary of remission from the disease in March of 2018.

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:

Seventeen-year-old Jim Subka and fifteen-year-old sister Hayley Subka pose next to toys they are preparing for shipment to young cancer patients at the Treasure Chest Foundation’s Orland Park warehouse. Their volunteer efforts will bring smiles of comfort to thousands of children and teens fighting cancer across the nation.