Palos Heights Saint Spyridon Hellenic Orthodox Church Sunday

In the spirit of giving, the Sunday School students of Saint Spyridon Hellenic Orthodox Church in Palos Heights are helping children and teens fighting cancer. The 120 students, 15 teachers and many families recently sponsored a holiday toy and gift card drive to benefit the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF). The holiday toy drive collected more than $1,000 worth of toys and $100 in gift cards to help children and teens fighting cancer.

The POTCF is an Orland Park-based non-profit organization that has been comforting children and teens diagnosed with cancer by providing toys from a treasure chest for more than two decades. Sunday School students are from pre-school through 12th grade and classes are held during the regular school year. When asked the motivation behind the toy drive Sunday School Director Zoe Kopanis said, “In the spirit of giving and remembering all of the children who are struggling with their health this holiday season, our St. Spyridon families came together to support the efforts of The Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation. We were overwhelmed with the generosity of our families and look forward to continuing to support this worthy cause.”

Treasure Chest Foundation CEO and Founder Colleen Kisel expressed her profound gratitude for the generous support shown by the Sunday School students and Saint Spyridon Hellenic Orthodox Church parishioners. “The Treasure Chest Foundation is especially grateful to the Saint Spyridon Hellenic Orthodox Church, the Sunday School students and all the families for their enormous donation of toys and gift cards,” said an appreciative Ms. Kisel, “It is wonderful to see the giving members of this church come together to help little ones whose lives have become filled with doctors, nurses, surgeries, pills, chemotherapy, radiation and mostly painful, painful procedures.”

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 13,300 young cancer patients enduring 20,000 clinic visits each month in 19 states across the nation. 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 25th anniversary of remission from the disease in March of 2018.

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.

Photo caption: Saint Spyridon Hellenic Orthodox Church Sunday School Teacher Dana Vasilakos (left), a few Sunday School students and Sunday School Director Zoe Kopanis (right) at Saint Spyridon Hellenic Orthodox Church in Palos Heights