Treasure Chest Foundation Opens 62nd Program in Miami, Florida

The Treasure Chest Foundation is proud to announce the opening of our 62nd Treasure Chest Program on February 3, 2021, at Miami Cancer Institute, Radiation Therapy in Miami, Florida.

Because our mission is to provide comfort and distraction from painful procedures to children and teens who have been diagnosed with cancer, this latest Treasure Chest Program opening was again cause for major celebration. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, patients and families were restricted from attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony. However, the children inside the hospital were overjoyed to receive the toys, gifts and gift cards that were hand-delivered by Dr. Michael Zinner and his fellow hospital staff members.

This satellite Treasure Chest Program, sponsored by Foundation Board Member Herb Walker and his wife Jan, will make a tremendous impact by providing our services to brave young Miami area cancer patients each month. Although the Miami Cancer Institute, Radiation Therapy Treasure Chest Program is one of the smaller ones in terms of the number of children and teens served, no child faced with a battle against cancer should be overlooked. Whether a Program serves one or one thousand patients per month, it is our mission to eventually support ALL brave young cancer patients across the nation.

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 14,600 young cancer patients in 62 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 27th anniversary of remission from the disease in March of 2020.

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 website at www.treasurechest.org.

Pictured (l-r): AVP of Nursing Marguerite Rowell, VP of Business Operations Maggy Pons, AVP of Clinical Operations, Radiation Oncology Department Steven Holan, Sponsor Janice Walker, Sponsor, and Treasure Chest Foundation Board Member Herb Walker, Lead Pediatric Radiation Oncologist Matthew Hall, M.D., CEO and Executive Medical Director Michael Zinner, M.D. and Deputy Director and Chief of Radiation Oncology Minesh Mehta, M.D. are waiting for the celebration to begin at the Miami Cancer Institute, Radiation Therapy in Miami, Florida.