Treasure Chest Foundation Honors Tinley Park Resident as Volunteer of the Year

The Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF) recently recognized its 2017 Volunteer of the Year, Tinley Park resident Diana Karasek, during the Eighth Annual Treasuring Our Kids Fundraiser in Orland Park. Diana is one of a core group of senior age volunteers who convene every Friday at the Foundation’s Orland Park warehouse to prepare hundreds of toys for shipping to children and teens who are battling cancer.

Diana knows all too well the adverse effect of cancer as she has three sisters who are survivors of the disease. “Joan and Carolyn are breast cancer survivors, and Gloria survived ovarian cancer,” says Diana. “Their courage and the way they dealt with adversity have inspired me, and the Treasure Chest’s ability to provide comfort for children makes this an important cause I truly believe in,” says Diana.

In addition to her dependable work as a weekly volunteer, Diana and husband Richard hosted creative toy drives in their Terrace Park subdivision in memory of their friend and neighbor, Len Astrowski, a crossing guard who passed away from cancer. The Karaseks distributed flyers asking neighbors to leave a new toy on their front porches, with a promise to pick up the toys one week later. Two drives held thus far have brought in truckloads of more than 400 toys and $100 in gift cards to benefit childhood cancer patients.

Diana also reached out recently to family members and friends with a simple email message requesting coloring books for the young cancer patients served by the Foundation. The idea brought astounding results: Treasure Chest Foundation CEO and Founder Colleen Kisel estimates Diana’s campaign has netted more than 1,000 coloring books which will all end up in the hands of a child battling cancer. Colleen also appreciates many other valuable contributions Diana has made. “Diana creates awesome note cards for me using photos of our ‘little ones’, the brave kids we serve. The cards are so creative and worth their weight in gold,” says a grateful Colleen.

Through her outstanding volunteer work and the creative toy and coloring book drives she spearheads, Diana derives a great deal of satisfaction knowing that she is helping to provide comfort for brave children during difficult times. “Putting a smile on the face of a child who has been suffering is all the motivation I need,” says Diana. “I don’t need to be recognized, I usually prefer to just stay in the background,” she says. “But the smiles on the faces of the children, that’s what makes me feel good.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 12,500 young cancer patients 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.

Photo caption: Tinley Park resident and Treasure Chest Foundation 2017 Volunteer of the Year Diana Karasek is joined on the dance floor by husband Richard at the recent Eighth Annual Treasuring Our Kids Fundraiser at Palos Country Club in Orland Park.