Lemont Realty Executives Collects Toys For Kids Fighting Cancer

The employees at Realty Executives Elite in Lemont are making it their business when it comes to children and teens fighting cancer. The local real estate agency recently asked their employees and customers to bring a toy, gift, or gift card donation to their fourth annual holiday toy drive. When the holiday toy drive had concluded, the toy drive had accumulated over 560 toys and $120.00 in Target gift cards on behalf of the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF) to directly benefit children fighting cancer.

Realty Executives Elite in Lemont is one of the area’s leading real estate agencies, offering residential and commercial real estate, rentals, foreclosures and more to residents of Lemont, Lockport, Homer Glen, Orland Park and surrounding areas since 1998. When asked about the toy drive, Realtor Megan Beechen said, “We love this organization and the cause. The pandemic does not stop the kids fighting cancer from needing toys.” Realty Executives Elite Owner Chris Budz chimed in saying, “The pandemic will not stop us from the holiday cheer and the support we bring to the kids the Treasure Chest Foundation serves.”

Treasure Chest Foundation CEO and Founder Colleen Kisel said, “We are extremely grateful to Owner Chris Budz and the entire Realty Executives Elite family. It is amazing to receive such a tremendous donation, especially during this pandemic.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 14,600 young cancer patients in 61cancer 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 web site at www.treasurechest.org.