Kids & Family
Oak Lawn Brothers Team Up to Help Kids with Cancer
Oak Lawn Brothers Team Up to Help Kids with Cancer
Oak Lawn brothers are giving to children fighting cancer. Thirteen-year-old George Kottaras and his ten-year-old brother Spiros Kottaras showed up to help organize, label and prepare the toys and gifts for shipment to Treasure Chests located in the various children’s cancer treatment centers served by the Foundation. Spiros Kottaras said, “I don’t want kids to be scared about tests and surgeries. I want them to focus on the good.” His brother George Kottaras chimed in by saying, “It feels great to help all these kids. These toys will help kids feel better.”
Ms. Kisel showed her appreciation for the pair’s hard work, saying, “Without the boy's help we would never be able to provide smiles of joy to thousands of young cancer patients every month. We are so grateful that the Kottaras brothers gave up their day off of school to help the kids we serve.”
Ms. Kisel showed her appreciation for the pair’s hard work, saying, “Without the boy's help we would never be able to provide smiles of joy to thousands of young cancer patients every month. We are so grateful that the Kottaras brothers gave up their day off of school to help the kids we serve.”
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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.