Tinley Park Resident Austin Carter Donates Gift Cards to Teens

Tinley Park resident Austin Carter (age 22) has made it an annual habit to support children and teens fighting cancer. Austin donated $100 in gift cards to the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation. During the past thirteen years Austin has donated an impressive $750 in gift cards and more than $1,000 in toys to benefit the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation.

Austin said, “The Treasure Chest Foundation is something that I always hold dear to me since my grandparents passed away from cancer.” Austin recently graduated from Illinois State University with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He is planning on continuing his education in chemistry by pursuing a graduate degree.

“The support of the local community means a lot and we are extremely grateful to Austin for his generous donation. It was very honorable of him to give up his money from working all year to help teens who are battling cancer.” said Colleen Kisel, Founder and CEO of the Treasure Chest Foundation.

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 30th anniversary of remission from the disease in March of this year.

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.