The St. Francis Xavier Catholic Women’s Club in LaGrange recently gave to children and teens fighting cancer by hosting a party titled “Toys for Tyler’s Community Birthday Party.” The event was held in memory of Tyler Duelm, a childhood cancer patient who lost his battle and who is continually remembered in the LaGrange community for courage in the face of tremendous adversity.
Members of LaGrange’s St. Francis Xavier parish gathered at the church to enjoy hot dogs, a lollipop tree, dancing, bag games and tattoos. Attendees were asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy or gift card to help put smiles on the faces of little ones fighting cancer. When the Community Birthday Party was over, hundreds of toys, gift cards and more than $2,200 had been collected for the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (POTCF), the organization that supported Tyler Duelm during his radiation treatment in 2006.
Find out what's happening in La Grangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The mission of the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Women’s Club is to welcome new women into the parish, provide spiritual and social activities for members, encourage participation in parish life and promote charitable and humanitarian projects on behalf of the parish.
Find out what's happening in La Grangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Tyler’s mother, Laura Duelm, said, “We selected the Treasure Chest Foundation because I feel it’s a small operation but has a large impact for kids and their parents.”
POTCF Founder and CEO Colleen Kisel said, “I feel blessed to have the support of the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Women’s Club. I feel sad when I think about the pain the Duelm family has had to endure. They have continued to support the Treasure Chest Foundation in memory of their beloved son Tyler for more than six years, and for that we are so grateful.”
The POTCF is a non-profit organization that provides comfort and distraction from painful procedures to children and teens diagnosed with cancer by providing a toy, gift or gift certificate in 45 hospitals nationwide. Nowhere else in the nation does such a program exist. CEO 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 recently celebrated his 20th anniversary of remission from the disease.
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.
