Latest Mack Madness News

08.18.20

Mack Madness to partner with Penn State Thon by creating a Mack Madness Org to support their mission to find a cure for pediatric cancer.

09.25.18

Due to the number of registrations we’ve received so far, we need to CANCEL and RESCHEDULE Mack Madness 2018. Enjoy the exciting times fall brings with homecomings, The Buddy Walk, weddings and many other family and friend gatherings.

We have rescheduled Mack Madness for Sunday May 26th, 2019 at Naylor’s Winery which is once again over the Memorial Day Weekend. This has always been a successful time of year for Mack Madness and we are hopeful you can join us again to celebrate our 10th “bitter sweet” anniversary. Please be sure to mark your calendars!

For all of those that have registered, we will be in contact with you in the next few days to see if you want a refund or would like us to hold your registration for next year’s event.

Once again, we greatly appreciate the prayers, generosity and ongoing support so many of you have provided us along this journey.

For those that may still be interested in financially supporting Mack Madness in 2018, you can make a donation through this website.

04.10.18

Hello Mack Madness family and friends. As many of you are aware, the past two weeks have been very emotional for our family and friends. Our sister Chris, aka Aunt Sugar, was on advanced life support fighting for her life due to complications from the flu since March 26th.

Her journey to recovery will be long but she made a significant stride this week with her ventilator being removed on Monday.

Our focus as a family is to now get her back on her feet so she can become the great wife, mom, sister, Aunt Sugar, teacher and friend we’ve all grown to know and love.

In order to provide her the support she needs, we’ve made the decision to move Mack Madness to October 6th, 2018.

For those who have already registered, I can refund your registration or hold it for the new date. Please email me at info@mackmadness.com if you would like a refund.

If you are interested, we did create a caring page so people can stay updated on her progress. The link is https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/christineneal

The entire York Hospital Emergency and ICU staff has been amazing and unbelievable in the care they have been providing her. We will be forever grateful for what they’ve done….

We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support during this very difficult time and appreciate your understanding of our decision to move the date for Mack Madness 2018 on such short notice.

One final note… I was sharing our story of McKenzie with the ICU nurse taking care of Chris and how difficult it was for our family to now see her in a similar situation. As I said Mack’s name to the nurse, a picture of a ladybug came on the TV in Chris’s room. I smiled and shared with her how Mack continues to connect with us through ladybugs. I knew at that point God and Mack were watching over her and she was somehow going to make it through this…

Our family is blessed not only to have an Angel watching over us, but to now have experienced a miracle in Chris..

We hope to see all of you October 6th to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Thanks again for the continued prayers, support and understanding…. God Bless… Ed, Lisa, Eddie, Bria and forever in our hearts, “Mack!”

02.15.18

Our new total donations made to charity is $319,000! It’s amazing what we can do when we come together for one common cause. Lisa, Eddie, Bria, "Mack” and I can’t thank you enough!

Please be sure to check out the photos from Mack Madness 2017

 

06.30.14

Together we continue to make a difference in the fight against cancer and allow Mack's spirit to live through all of us! Wow!! We did it! We will easily break the $200,000 mark for total donations made from the proceeds generated at Mack Madness. Our new total is $215,000 and this year we will be donating $35,000 to charity! We couldn’t make it happen without all the help and support from the committee members, those who make donations, our volunteers and those who attend the event. It’s amazing what we can do when we come together for one common cause. Lisa, Eddie, Bria, "Mack” and I can’t thank you enough!

Please be sure to check out the photos from Mack Madness 2014

07.15.13

You've done it again!! In 2013 we will be donating another $40,000 to charity from the proceeds generated at Mack Madness 2013. We couldn’t make it happen without all the help and support of the committee members, those that make donations, volunteers and all those that attend the event. This year we had over 840 attendees... and we're overjoyed you were all there! It’s amazing what we can do when we all come together for one common cause. Lisa, Eddie, Bria, “Mack” and I can’t thank you enough!

Please be sure to check out the photos from Mack Madness 2013

And again... one final thought... A friend of mine shared with me after the event his daughter asked him if Mackie was catching the balloons as they floated upwards towards heaven….If we all could have a child like faith the world would be a better place. Ed Schneider

07.09.12

 

Wow!! In 2012 we will be donating $40,000 to charity from the proceeds generated at Mack Madness 2012. We couldn’t make it happen without all the help and support of the committee members, those that make donations, volunteers and all those that attend the event. This year we had over 820 attendees... and we're overjoyed you were all there! It’s amazing what we can do when we all come together for one common cause. Lisa, Eddie, Bria, “Mack” and I can’t thank you enough!

Please be sure to check out the photos from Mack Madness 2012

As a reminder, Meineke of York will be donating back to Mack Madness a portion of the cost of each oil change through May 2013. Visit them at 1775 Rodney Road and simply show them the Mack Madness Oil Change card you received at the event. Depending on the level of service will depend on the donation they will make. A minimum of $5 per oil change will be donated. We have additional cards if needed. Just contact us.

I’d like to share one final thought... I always enjoy the balloon launch because it’s our way of celebrating Mack’s birthday and connecting heaven and earth. As I came from under the pavilion and B-Tropical was playing and singing Happy Birthday, the balloons were well on their way ascending into the sky above the tree line. I shared with my sister that I missed the actual release of the balloons. Later, it was after midnight and the last thing we did before leaving Naylor’s was load up the dunk tank. As we placed the dunk tank on the hitch of our truck, a red balloon went floating by… It was Mack’s way of saying, "Daddy, you didn’t miss the release, I had your own personal balloon launch planned for the end of the day..." Ed Schneider

02.11.12...

 

We were not able to coordinate a dine-out date in the Fall so we’ve decided to have a Mack Madness Bar-B-Q on March 18 to help defray the initial expenses for Mack Madness 2012. Millers Bar-B-Q, which provides the Bar-B-Q at Mack Madness, will be serving up their famous Bar-B-Q chicken. Thanks Matt!
• Meal includes half a chicken, baked potato, apple sauce and roll for $7.50.
• Pick up will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 18 at the Springettsbury Fire Department, 3013 East Market Street.

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Lisa and I wanted to share an e-mail we recently received from Dr. Bob, Mack’s PICU doctor in Hershey. Mack continues to GIVE in so many ways! Here is Dr. Bob’s e-mail...

We have recently started an initiative here at the hospital focused on the prevention and treatment of RSV in pediatric cancer and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients. As you know, this has always been a high priority at the hospital. It is our hope that this initiative will further enhance our ability to prevent and treat this virus among these children. As we did for Mack, we want to continue to provide the most state of the art therapy for these vulnerable children.

Needless to say, "Mack" has been the source of much of my motivation in this endeavor. In short, we have developed a set of guidelines that delineate the most up-to-date therapies aimed at the prevention and treatment of RSV infections in pediatric oncology and HSCT patients. We have formed a group that has met monthly since the Spring with representatives from multiple disciplines of medicine (e.g. oncology, critical care, pulmonology, infectious disease, pharmacy, respiratory therapy, and nursing) to research and develop these guidelines. We have purchased state of the art equipment to ensure the safe delivery of certain medications. We have developed a data collection form such that we can collect data and monitor our outcomes. It is our lofty goal to eliminate deaths related to the RSV virus for these children. We hope to share our ideas with other children's hospitals to make this a widespread mission. I will be presenting many of our ideas at a North American Oncology / Critical Care meeting this coming March. I will certainly keep you abreast of our progress.

Best wishes and please let me know how I can help.
Bob

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11.09.11...

We wanted to share with you details of the charitable donations made from Mack Madness 2011!

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - $16,500
American Cancer Society - $5,000
Reece’s Rainbow Adoption Ministry - $4,000
Make-A-Wish Foundation - $3,400
Leg Up Farm - $3,000
York Area Down Syndrome Association - $3,000
Penn State THON - $2,000
Family Child Resources - $2,000

That's a $38,900 total!

Wow... it’s amazing (and hard to believe) we've (all of us!) donated close to $100,000 in our first 3 years of Mack Madness. Mack is smiling down on all of us!

06.18.11...

Once again... Mack Madness was a huge success!

With our $2,000 donation to THON in February, Mack Madness, Inc. will be donating a total of $38,000 to charity in 2011! Our total charitable donations in our first three years is $98,000!

We want to personally thank our committee members, sponsors, those who made donations, volunteers and all who attended the event. TOGETHER, WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER!

05.18.11...

Wonderful news... Recently during the General Mills Inc. National Sales Conference, Lisa and I were honored to receive the "Leadership Award in Recognition of Citizenship" for our efforts that make Mack Madness a reality. It honors employees who contribute to their community in a positive way.

Although it was an emotional moment when they explained our story and announced the award was being given to us, it was comforting to know that Mack continues to make a difference from heaven once again!

All of you who have made donations to our cause, attended the event, have worked hard to organize this day, and those who work as volunteers during Mack Madness deserve a part of this award! Lisa and I cannot thank you enough for your support and we look forward to another successful Mack Madness.

12.15.10...

• Mack Madness Dine Out was a HUGE success!
The restaurant was packed with an hour wait to be seated! Mack Madness ranks in the top 5 for Dine Outs at the White Rose Bar and Grill and Tom Sibol generously donated $1,000 to jump start our event in 2011. Thanks Tom... and to all those that attended! 

06.23.10...

• Charitable donations from Mack Madness 2010... Lisa and I were also honored to receive the 2010 Executive Director Award from the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.  They are very thankful of our donation and each one of you play a key part in finding a cure for blood cancers with your support of Mack Madness.  We also wanted to share the final breakout of the charitable donations made from the $35,000 in proceeds from Mack Madness 2010.
 
$15,000 – Leukemia Lymphoma Society
$10,000 – American Cancer Society
$3,500 – Make a Wish – We will be sending a 3 year old little girl with Leukemia and her family to Disney
$3,000 – York Area Down Syndrome Association
$2,000 – St. Margaret Mary School Jamaica - Sponsored 4 children - Education Fund
$1,500 – Bedrosian Children’s Fund
 
Visit our Donations page to read the thank you letters from the various charities we support.

• A brick in honor of Mack... has been added to the entrance of the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey, PA!

More News...

Ladybugs everywhere!

If you haven’t clicked on the Ladybug tab you may want to.  Incredible stories that will provide comfort and reconfirm our belief that Mack is doing great watching over all of us from Heaven!  They’ve helped bring a little peace to our family and friends and strengthened our faith as we continue on our journey.

Please donate

Every little bit helps... Please donate now! For those who may need it, our Mack Madness Tax ID # is 27-1039400. We have received our 501-C3 status from the IRS.

Thanks again to one and all for your support of Mack Madness.  Your thoughts and prayers continue to provide strength for Lisa, Eddie, Bria and me.  Mack is smiling down from heaven in amazement as she watches us all come together for a great cause!
- Ed Schneider