After 38 years The MACC Fund is still winning
By Joe Dexter
The beauty of the game of basketball is found in it’s core values. It takes the commitment of all five players on the court — a chemistry that words can not illustrate.
Basketball is about a team coming together through the common goal of winning.
On Saturday, for the 38th straight year, the Milwaukee Bucks and Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer did just that.
In an era of basketball where change is inevitable, the MACC Fund game has been a constant. For one night every preseason since 1977, the only win that matters is getting one step closer to their goal of being “cured out of existence.”
Oct 25, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks television announcer Jon McGlocklin speaks to the crowd during the game against the Toronto Raptors at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
In total, over $1.3 million has been raised from the MACC Fund Game to help cure childhood cancer and related blood disorders.
Bucks legend and MACC co-founder Jon McGlocklin has been a part of the Milwaukee Bucks organization since 1968. He’s seen a lot of things during his 50 year career in the NBA. But when he and Hall of Fame Bucks broadcaster Eddie Doucette founded Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer shortly after Doucette’s two-year old son Brett was diagnosed with leukemia in 1975, he never envisioned it blossoming into the tool that it has become for childhood cancer research.
“I think only god could have that kind of vision,” said McGlocklin in a phone interview with Behind the Buck Pass. “What I tried to do at the beginning is just take it one day at time then one week then one month. And that’s how I approached it. I just started to push it and promote it and talk about it and people started calling me and asking more about it.
“To say that I would have the vision that almost 38 years later we would of given 52 million dollars in the fight against childhood cancer and have the 70-90 activities and events a year with the impact we’ve had. I can’t tell you I had that kind of vision. I hoped for it, but I didn’t really put numbers on it.”
With the help of the MACC fund, the five year survival rate of childhood cancer has increased by 14% since 1975. In-state research has led to successful protocols developed in Wisconsin that are now the standard for patient care across the United States.
“To say that I would have the vision that almost 38 years later we would of given 52 million dollars in the fight against childhood cancer and have the 70-90 activities and events a year with the impact we’ve had. I can’t tell you I had that kind of vision.” — MACC Fund Co-Founder Jon McGlocklin
So it was no surprise when new owners Marc Lasry and Mark Edens bought the Bucks in May that one of the first things on on their agenda was to show support for the MACC Fund by continuing the relationship and game that has helped so many children.
“It’s tremendous,” said McGlocklin of the support from the new Bucks ownership group. “I had hoped they would obviously and thought they would but that doesn’t mean they had to or owed it to anybody to do it.
“To continue the tradition of the MACC Fund Game with the Milwaukee Bucks is critical. It’s valuable to the Bucks and obviously for the MACC fund because without the bucks there would be no MACC Fund.”
As the 2014-15 season begins, there is a renewed excitement in Milwaukee for a team that has hopes of owning the future.
Yet it’s McGlocklin and the MACC Fund that remind us of the great history of a Bucks organization that has done more for it’s community than wins and losses can quantify.
“I think I was the first player to come into town in 1968 and have been with this franchise ever since. It’s very rewarding to me. I’ve been with the club through every ownership, every coach, every general manager, every player, every trainer, every announcer and it’s a great privilege — and I really mean that.
“It’s been a privilege for me and my family to have the opportunity to be with an organization for that long in this profession as a player and an announcer. It’s hard to do.Those things just don’t happen.This is my 50th year in the NBA. It’s remarkable when you think about it. I feel very very blessed.”
As do the children around the world that have benefited from such a great relationship between two old friends.
To learn more about the MACC Fund or the many different ways you can donate, visit http://www.maccfund.org/