MILWAUKEE — The MACC Fund was founded on Dec. 10, 1976 during the retirement of Jon McGlocklin. The Bucks legend sat down with TMJ4 to discuss the legacy he helped create to help save kids.
McGlocklin has won an NBA championship, but says the work he and Eddie Doucette have done with the MACC Fund is the most important.
"There (would) be no MACC Fund without my basketball career,"McGlocklin said. "There (would) be no MACC Fund without the Milwaukee Bucks embracing us, and letting Eddie and I talk about it and give us a game and support us all these years and still do today. It's hard to say well that's more important than the athletic part, because the athletic part, got me to that."
It's emotional for McGlocklin even after 45 years.
"I've often thought, how did I get from that little town nobody to this NBA Championship, the Milwaukee Bucks, all this fame and glory," McGlocklin says. "After we had started the MACC Fund and started doing it, I put in a lot of love time. I happen to be a strong believer with faith. I believe God got me there, from that dirt court to here, for the MACC Fund, because we're saving kids lives."
McGlocklin hopes that is what he is remembered for.
"I had a woman stop me and say Jon, thank you for the MACC Fund, because we lost our child a few years ago, but we know the ones you're saving," he said. "I've had stories that are hard for me to tell and they're moving, where cancer parents come up and grab me. It's very rewarding. I'm proud of the MACC Fund, not prideful, proud of the MACC Fund. But, we're still losing kids. So until we get to 100 percent, and will we in my lifetime? Probably not, but I think we can. The doctors tell us we can. When we started the MACC Fund, only 20 percent of the kids survived a five year period with all cancers and today in some cancers we're well over 80 percent."
