Orland Hills Cancer Patient Helps Younger Cancer Patients

Orland Hills resident Olivia Glas (age 13) is helping to put a smile on the faces of fellow pediatric cancer patients. Olivia was diagnosed with Leukemia five months ago. This brave girl has endured months of medical procedures in her young life and is supporting fellow pediatric cancer patients at Advocate Hope Hospital, the hospital treating Olivia.

Olivia first volunteered at the Treasure Chest Foundation with her grandmother Kathy Domark. Olivia is wise beyond her years. She knows the treatment must be done and talks openly about it. Olivia hand-picked some toys at the Treasure Chest to give to other kids at Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn.

The POTCF is a unique organization whose services impact more than 16,100 young cancer patients in 66 cancer treatment centers in 21 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 29th 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 1-708-687-TOYS (8697) or visit the Foundation’s website at www.treasurechest.org.