St. George School in Tinley Park Hosts “Caring Hearts Club” Toy Drive

The students and staff at St. George School in Tinley Park joined forces with Caring Hearts Club to support a worthy cause recently when they hosted a school-wide toy and gift card drive for the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF).

Members of the Caring Hearts Club asked fellow students to bring in new toys and gift cards to donate to children and teens fighting cancer. By the time the last donation came in they had collected a vanload of toys and $85 in gift cards. First-grade teacher Julie Newtoff said, “We asked members of the Caring Hearts Club what they wanted to do and the children said they would like to collect toys for kids fighting cancer.”

St. George School is a Catholic School in the Archdiocese of Chicago. The school fosters quality education by providing opportunities, through the faith life of' the parish community, to know, serve and love God.

Treasure Chest Foundation CEO and Founder Colleen Kisel said, “We are blessed to have the support of the Caring Hearts Club along with the students and staff at St. George School who generously donated to the toy drive. Their donation will help us continue to support brave young children and teens as they endure years of painful procedures in their battle against cancer.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 16,100 young cancer patients in 66 cancer treatment centers in 21 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 29th anniversary of remission from the disease in March of 2022.

If you would like further information about the Treasure Chest Foundation, please contact Colleen Kisel at 1-708-687-TOYS (8697) or visit the Foundation’s website at www.treasurechest.org.