Mokena Childhood Cancer Patient Organizes Toy Drive

On February 5th, 2019, Tinlee Kimbrough of Mokena was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), at the age of two. Young Tinlee decided to give back to the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF), the organization that helped her throughout her cancer treatment at Ronald McDonald Children’s Hospital, by hosting a toy drive during the Tinlee Kimbrough Blood Drive. The toy drive and blood drive was held on Saturday, September 26, from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at the Kimbrough home. More than 200 people participated in the blood drive and toy drive. When the last toy was donated, two van loads of toys along with $200 was donated to the Treasure Chest Foundation.

Tinlee’s mother Taylor Kimbrough recalled the positive effect that the toys from the Treasure Chest at Ronald McDonald’s Children’s Hospital provided to her daughter throughout her treatments. Mom Taylor said, “We have accessed the treasure chest toys while we were inpatient and at the oncology clinic. During inpatient stays, the toys were extremely helpful to pass the time while we were confined to our hospital room. Our child-life specialist would also fill Tinlee’s bed with toys before we got there to make her admission less scary. During our clinic visits, getting her port accessed and blood drawn is the most difficult part for Tinlee, but she knows as soon as she is done, she gets to pick a toy from the treasure chest. This makes her worries go away immediately!”

Young Tinlee was excited to donate all the toys and said, “So the other kids can be happy too.”

POTCF Founder and CEO Colleen Kisel said, “My heart was especially moved as I could feel the pain of having a little one go through years and years of cancer treatment. Furthermore, Taylor Kimbrough is a childhood classmate of my son Martin, a childhood cancer survivor. The Treasure Chest Foundation is so blessed to have the support of the Kimbrough Family, friends and neighbors.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 14,000 young cancer patients in 60 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 web site at www.treasurechest.org.