For the second consecutive year, the students at Conrady Junior High School in Hickory Hills had fun for a worthy cause when their school hosted an innovative event designed to raise money for the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF) Annual Holiday Toy Drive. The Orland Park based non-profit organization provides comfort and distraction from painful treatments to children and teens diagnosed with cancer by providing a toy or gift card in 45 hospitals nationwide.
Rather than having students bring in new toys, Conrady’s unique approach involved a contest of tossing coins into buckets using money graciously donated by teachers, faculty and the students’ parents and grandparents. After the final coin had been tossed, the enthusiastic Conrady students had raised more than $1,100 to benefit children and teens fighting cancer, with the eighth-graders narrowly coming out on top in the friendly competition to see which class could raise the most money. A group of Conrady Student Council Officers then visited the Orland Park Toys-R-Us store] where they used the money to purchase toys they felt would be most appreciated by children battling cancer.
Find out what's happening in Oak Lawnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Conrady Student Council Coordinator Frank Mateja said, “Once again we were overwhelmed with the tremendous support of our Student Council Officers, faculty and all of the students and their families who participated in our coin toss. Everyone just wanted to make sure that the Treasure Chests are full for these brave young cancer patients. We hope the toys we provided will help take their minds off of painful treatments and give them a reason to smile, especially during the holiday season.”
Find out what's happening in Oak Lawnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
One of the Conrady representatives who helped deliver the toys to the Foundation’s warehouse summed it up best by saying, “Our kids just love participating in the coin toss, and their enthusiasm along with the creativity of the Student Council Officers helped make it our most successful fundraiser of the year.”
POTCF Founder and CEO Colleen Kisel is especially grateful to the Conrady faculty and the students’ families for their efforts in raising such an impressive total. “Thanks to the continuing success of Conrady Junior High’s creative coin toss, the holiday season will once again be brighter and happier for thousands of brave young people who benefit from our services throughout the nation,” said Ms. Kisel.
The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 8,600 young cancer patients each month in 45 hospitals across 16 states. Nowhere else in the nation does such a program exist. Ms. Kisel founded the organization in 1996 after her then seven-year-old son Martin had been diagnosed with leukemia in 1993. She 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 20th anniversary of remission from the disease earlier 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.
