Seasons Greetings from Candy Cane Lane

5-year-old Camila held hands with her mother Lana while walking down Candy Cane Lane gazing and admiring all the lit-up displays. She took after her mother with a digital camera in hand taking photos of all the lights surrounding her. Although it was her first time there, it was a tradition the family was excited to start.

“This is our first time here,” Lana explained. “We just moved here and heard about this from my boyfriend.”

Lana’s boyfriend and his little boy accompanied the two girls. The family was stunned and amazed by the displays brought before them and were looking forward to the Candy Cane Lane season to come.

For the past 34 years, a neighborhood residing in West Allis, also known as Candy Cane Lane has been raising money for childhood cancer and blood related diseases research.

Candy Cane Lane stretches from 96^th street to 92^nd street and from Montana Avenue to Oklahoma Avenue. These blocks are filled with volunteers who deck their houses out for the holiday season brining thousands of friends and families from all over Wisconsin to see these displays. These magical displays consist of a countless number of Christmas lights, light up figurines, light shows with music to play along with, movie displays and characters and many much more holiday decorations to be seen including Santa Claus himself visiting the kids driving by.

Senior Development Officer for the MACC Fund Colleen Moran explained that in 1984, it began with neighbors just decorating their houses, the word got out and people began coming through to see their displays. The following year, 1985, one of the neighbor’s boys was diagnosed with cancer. In response to this, the neighbors got together and began collecting donations for Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, better known as the MACC Fund. Since then, they have raised over $2.8 million for research.

“Candy Cane Lane is one of our largest fundraisers of the year,” Moran said. “We raise on average $100,000 a year. Last year we raised $121,000.”

This organizations goal this year is $100,000 and they are about half way there. With a late thanksgiving this holiday season, the team lost a week of production.

“What’s challenging is when you have a short season,” Moran explained. “We have four weeks to collect money instead of five weeks, but we have been seeing the event build momentum.”

The MACC Fund is owned by Jon McGlocklin, former Milwaukee Bucks NBA Champion, who started the MACC fund after his son was diagnosed with cancer at the age of two. It has been around for 43 years in which it has supported research at the Medical College of Wisconsin, the carbo and cancer center at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, along with support to the Marshfield Clinic. The MACC Fund had contributed over $62 million and has helped increase the five-year survival rate for all types of childhood cancer.

All participants in candy cane lane are volunteers. These participants take their own time and money to decorate their houses in thousands of Christmas lights. Volunteer Ken Perkl has been working with the MACC Fund since 2006 by both decorating his house, and with his white beard and Santa Claus hat, he stands out on the corner with the MACC Fund team collecting money and wishing everyone a happy holiday.

“You get to see all the kids and how happy they are, thinking I’m Santa Claus,” Perkl said. “But it’s the kids giving us money for cancer research for the MACC Fund.”

Each year before their Thanksgiving break, students from local schools in the area volunteer to wrap the trees in the Candy Cane Lane neighborhood. They wrap them in a white wrapping and then go other it with a thinner red tape to imitate a candy cane to line the roads.

Not only is this a family friendly event for all to come and see, but it has a major impact on the community and those affected by the MACC Fund.

Candy Cane Lane began the Friday after Thanksgiving and goes until December 28^th this year. You can find directions and further information in regard to Candy Cane Lane this holiday season on their website.