Treasure Chest Foundation Opens 60th Program at Niswonger

The Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation announced the opening of its 60th Treasure Chest Program on July 29, 2020 at Niswonger Children’s Hospital in Johnson City, TN. The Treasure Chest Foundation is an Orland Park-based non-profit organization that provides toys and gifts to children and teens diagnosed with cancer.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening ceremony for the 60th Treasure Chest Program took place in front of Niswonger Children’s Hospital without patients or families present. However, inside the hospital the brave children and teens who are battling cancer anxiously waited for the beautiful new Treasure Chest full of toys and gift cards.

Each new Treasure Chest Program is opened in honor or in memory of one or more individuals whose lives have impacted the success and influence of the Foundation.

This Program opened in memory of Philip J. Finn, whose passion for the Treasure Chest Foundation began in 1999 in an era when the Foundation’s headquarters were located in the basement of Founder and CEO Colleen Kisel’s home. Phil’s belief in the Foundation’s mission helped the organization go from serving 300 kids monthly to its current amazing total of 14,000 patients in 20 states across the nation. Sadly, Phil passed away in 2014, but his memory and loyal support will live on with the opening of this latest Treasure Chest Program in his honor.

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact thousands of young cancer patients in cancer treatment centers nationwide. 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 this year.

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: Niswonger Children’s Hospital Child Life Specialists are joined by Elsie Finn (Phil’s wife, fourth from left) and Finn family friends Nancy Geraci (third from left) and Joe Geraci (far right) as they proudly stand behind the new Treasure Chest at Niswonger Children’s Hospital in Johnson City, TN. The 60th Treasure Chest Program opened in memory of Philip J. Finn, whose passion for the Treasure Chest Foundation began in 1999.