CANCER SURVIVOR'S KIN RECYCLES TO AID OTHERS.

Byline: CONNIE LLANOS  Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- Of the eight children battling cancer two years ago in a hospital ward with Mackenzie Maier, only the 4-year-old from Saugus survived.

Her parents Chuck and Terri Maier are convinced it was because they were able to sit with Mackenzie day and night.

``We firmly believe the reason Mackenzie is still here was our ability to be with her and nurture her through it,'' Chuck Maier said.

Well aware that other parents can't afford to quit work when disaster hits, the Maiers want to help. They're running a campaign turning recyclable bottles and cans into hope for other cancer-stricken families.

Mac's Project, a nonprofit organization, was started by the Maiers in April and now, with the holidays approaching, the family is hoping to kick it into high gear.

``We didn't want to go around asking people for money,'' Chuck said. ``Everbody needs to recycle, and in California, you can make legitimate money on it.''

It was just two years ago that the wide-eyed middle one of three daughters was given less than a 50 percent chance of surviving neuroblastoma cancer.

``We spent a year and a half, day in and day out, doing chemo and stem cell therapies,'' Chuck Maier said.

Downhearted yet determined to see their daughter through the debilitating disease, the Maiers realized how lucky they were to have support from family and friends.

One day, they were surprised to open their mailbox and find a blank envelope.

It held $2,000.

Wanting to return the favor, the Maiers are determined to make recycling to fund their project as easy as possible. They provide the bins and the bags and pick up the recyclables.

What started out with a few bins inside the offices of friends and neighbors has grown to about 100 bins citywide.

Inside gymnastics studios, construction offices and private schools, the lime-green bins are filled with bottles and cans of all types. The Maiers dedicate their weekends to sorting and rebagging.

Legacy Academy, a private school in Valencia, has become Mac's Project's biggest supporter.

``The Maeirs have a heartwarming story, they are a great family and this is a great project,'' Legacy Principal Matt Jackson said.

``It is great to see tiny first- and second-graders, every morning, bringing in bags of cans bigger than they are,'' Jackson said.

In the past few months, the family has raised a little over $3,000.

Minus some incidental expenses, such as gas for pickups, the family has doled out hundreds of dollars in shopping sprees, themed birthday parties and even paid to get a mother's car out of an impound lot.

``We just want to give these families whatever they need,'' Chuck Maier said.

Mac's Project talks to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles social workers to find out which families need the most help. With the holidays approaching, the Maiers are hoping they can do something special for these families.

``No disease is worse than when it strikes a child,'' Chuck Maier said, remembering what he was told by someone when his own daughter was sick.

He hopes Mac's Project eventually grows to be a huge nonprofit group.

``We want to have so much money, we can throw it at people,'' he said. For information, visit www.macsproject.com by doing a search on www.goodsearch.com; a penny is given to Mac's Project for every search done on that engine.

connie.llanos(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Mac's Project, above, urges the recycling of cans, bottles and plastics to help families battling cancer. Left, fifth-grader Baek Creason of Legacy Academy talks about his class's recycling efforts, which earned a class party for their efforts.

David Crane/Staff Photographer