The MACC Fund (Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer Inc.) is celebrating a milestone by reaching more than $50 million in contributions since its inception in 1976.
The MACC Fund contribute $1.2 million today to its three beneficiaries, the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center.
The MACC Fund began on the retirement night of Jon McGlocklin from the Milwaukee Bucks. McGlocklin, MACC Fund president and co-founder, said “I have been asked many times if I could see what the MACC Fund would accomplish over the years and did I realize the impact it would have on the lives of children and their families. I could only hope that someday we would have given $50 million in the fight against childhood cancer and blood disorders helping cure rates to steadily increase for our children. Now we must continue to fight until we win the war.”
The overall cure rate for childhood cancer has risen from 20 percent to 80 percent during the 37-year history of the MACC Fund. The final 20 percent remains the goal while also recognizing that even children in the 80 percent category can have “late effect” issues which require more research.
Eddie Doucette, who was the original “radio voice” of the Milwaukee Bucks, is the MACC Fund’s honorary vice president and co-founder. His son Brett’s battle with leukemia as a toddler served as the impetus for the creation of the MACC Fund. Brett, an early MACC Fund “success story,” recently turned 41. Eddie Doucette said, “If someone would have suggested in 1976 that someday we would be able to contribute $50 million specifically earmarked for research to eradicate pediatric cancers I would have thought it unfathomable…To all who have made this milestone achievement possible by giving their dimes and dollars, my sincere, heartfelt thank you.”
Bill Steinberg, chairman of the MACC Fund’s board of directors since 2006, said, “We have never had the chance to rethink our mission – from the beginning this has been about life for kids. However, we imagined what was possible, what’s not to be missed is the impact on the kids and their families whose lives have been touched by this work. MACC Fund donors, sponsors, volunteers, board and staff have achieved a lasting endurance beyond any of us with this milestone.”
