Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, known throughout the area as the MACC Fund, turns 32 today.

The organization, founded in 1976 by Bucks legends Jon McGlocklin and Eddie Doucette, has mobilized thousands of volunteers and raised $33 million in support of cancer research and has helped the overall cure rate for childhood cancer rise from 20 percent in the mid-1970s to its current rate of 80 percent.

The primary beneficiary of MACC Fund support is the Midwest Children's Cancer Center -- a collaborative effort of the Medical College of Wisconsin and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

Research is conducted in the six-story MACC Fund Research Center of the Medical College of Wisconsin. The MACC Fund also supports research at the University of Wisconsin's Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center ,where research will be conducted in the MACC Fund Pediatric Cancer Research Wing upon its completion in the spring of 2009.

Translational research is supported at the MACC Fund Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. The MACC Fund committed nearly $1.5 million for the Midwest Children's Cancer Center's annual budget in fiscal 2008, which is roughly 30 percent of the Center's annual budget.

The MACC Fund, in conjunction with TODAY'S TMJ4, will hold its 12th annual sports auction from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Mike Jacobs and Carole Meekins host the live show with Newsradio 620 WTMJ's Jonathan Green acting as the show's professional auctioneer. Scott Kelnhofer, Associate Editor of the Sports Collector's Digest, will provide expert commentary as he has since 1997.

The auction features items from the Bucks, Brewers, Packers, Admirals, Badgers, Marquette, and NASCAR. Also available will be signature items from sports personalities.

For more information on the organization and donations, contact the MACC Fund Web site.