Theissen Center may close

John Theissen said that the Wantagh center serves as home base for his charity’s annual back-to-school supply and holiday toy drives.

Rebecca Anderson/Herald

How to help save the Family Fun Center

John Theissen is collecting donations online at www.gofundme.com/jtcf-family-fun-center-drive.

The Nutty Irishman, at 323 Main St. in Farmingdale, is holding a Save the Center benefit concert on May 19 at 7 p.m. DJ Cowboy Ben E and Jimmy Kenny and the Pirate Beach Band will entertain the crowd with tunes by Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown. A $25 ticket includes a complimentary drink and a buffet. For more information, visit www.showclix.com/event/margaritaville-mayhem-ticket-wbuffet.

Half of the proceeds from the annual John Theissen Children’s Foundation Family Casino Night will be used to keep the center open. The other half will be used for the back-to-school program. The event will be held on June 8 at the Woodbury Country Club. Call (516) 679-5098 for more information.

Mulcahy’s Pub and Concert Hall, in Wantagh, is planning a benefit concert for JCTF, according to Theissen. See www.muls.com for information as it becomes available.

Kaitlyn Rochel, a 14-year-old Wantagh Middle School student, is a three-time cancer survivor. In 2006 she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and was treated with chemotherapy. When she relapsed in 2010, her younger sister, Lauren, donated bone marrow. Since Kaitlyn’s third relapse and round of treatments in November 2011, her mother, Carolyn, said that she has been healthy. 

Carolyn said that one neighbor was always ready and willing to help the Rochel family through all of Kaitlyn’s battles with cancer: John Theissen. Through his charity, Theissen threw Kaitlyn and Lauren birthday parties, organized get-togethers with friends before hospital stays, took the children to the American Girl shop in a limousine, invited them to Dave and Buster’s and encouraged them to stop by the John Theissen Children’s Foundation Family Fund Center if they needed somewhere to play and escape the realities of their lives. 

“I will never forget the smiles he put on my girls’ faces,” Rochel said. “At those parties, they were just happy kids like everyone else. They weren’t worrying about hospitals and needles — they were just with their family and friends.” 

Rochel said that Theissen has built a lasting relationship with her family, along with dozens of others from Wantagh, Seaford, Levittown and beyond who were impacted by pediatric cancers and life-threatening illnesses. Those families and JTCF supporters are now rallying around Theissen, who said he might have to close the charity’s Family Fun Center because of rising rent. 

A place for fun 

When Theissen was a junior at MacArthur High School, he started getting severe headaches. In September 1988, when he was 17 and starting his senior year, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He was operated on that December, and spent most of the holiday season recovering in the oncology unit at Schneider Children’s Hospital. He met children who were sick, and that inspired him to launch his foundation four years later.

In 1992, he held his first holiday toy drive to benefit children in local hospitals. He collected and distributed 800 toys, helping kids at three medical facilities. Twenty-five years later, Theissen has collected and given away hundreds of thousands of toys to ailing children, formally established his nonprofit, and expanded the charity’s mission and programs. 

By 2006, JCTF needed a home base. Theissen found a building in downtown Wantagh and opened the Family Fun Center that year. 

“I started painting by myself on a Saturday because I had what I wanted to do in my head,” Theissen recalled. “I wanted to set up this place not just as office space, but to have entertainment stuff for the kids.” 

He said he wanted to throw free birthday, pre- and post-treatment parties for sick children — especially those whose families could not afford to buy them toys or spend money on recreational activities because of mounting medical expenses. After less than two months of fundraising, Theissen transformed the space into a colorful, festive environment. 

Visitors immediately notice the 13 high-definition television screens lining the blue walls. Each is equipped with a different video game console. Down the hall, youngsters will find an ice cream freezer, JellyBelly dispenser, a popcorn machine and five arcade games. Carolyn said that her daughters always enjoyed another room downstairs, which Theissen set up as an arts and crafts station. 

The third room is perhaps the kids’ favorite, Theissen said. The Wish Room, as he dubbed it, features shelves packed with toys. Ailing children are invited to pick out playthings, whether they are having a party at the center or simply need a doll to hug. 

In addition to holding about 60 parties a year, the Family Fun Center is also the drop-off place for the JCTF back-to-school supply and holiday toy drives. Students from the Wantagh, Seaford, Levittown, Bellmore and Merrick school districts have all volunteered at the center, either helping with the toy collections or playing with younger children at the parties. Theissen has also allowed other community groups in Wantagh-Seaford to hold events in the building, such as fundraisers for families whose homes have been damaged by fire. 

“When they walk by this place, people might not understand all that goes on here,” Theissen said. “It’s really become a big community center. Kids have their last wishes in this place. For the past 11 years, I’ve tried help as many people as I could.” 

Saving the center 

Although hundreds of resident have supported Theissen’s programs and fundraisers, he said the rising rent surpasses the collections. If he does not raise $50,000 by June 30, he said, he would be unable to renew his lease and the Family Fun Center will close. 

Rochel said she was upset when she heard that Theissen might give up the building where her family made so many special memories. Her daughters, who sold bracelets and drawings to benefit JCTF when they were young, also asked how they could help. 

Rochel said she was not surprised to hear that other local families wanted to raise funds. “People just want him to stay and be able to continue to do the good work that he does,” she said. “I have seen firsthand how he can put smiles on faces when they are going through really tough times, and I see the smile on his face when he helps other people. You can see it in him — he genuinely cares.” 

Theissen established a GoFundMe page, and as of press time, had collected  $25,515. Several benefit concerts at local businesses are also in the works (see box).

Theissen said that local teachers have offered to help as well, noting that fundraisers are being planned at Abbey Lane Elementary School in Levittown and Lee Road School in North Wantagh. Dr. Tonie McDonald, superintendent of the Levittown School District, said that students and faculty members are ready to help. 

“The [JCTF] mission to support sick and underprivileged children and their families is a worthy cause and serves as an inspiration to us all,” McDonald said. “We are proud to recognize John as an alumnus and will continue to do our part to help the foundation make days brighter for children in need.”  

Theissen said he was overwhelmed by how much communities such as Wantagh, Seaford and Levittown have supported his work through the years. He said he was especially grateful to residents now. 

“It gives me a bigger drive and makes me want to work harder,” he said. “I’ve had job offers from larger nonprofits in the city, but this is my life’s mission. Whatever the community does for me, I want to do back for them.”