Editor’s Note: One may assume that seven Emmy nominations and a gorgeous husband, "The West Wing’s" Bradley Whitford, would go to actress Jane Kaczmarek’s head. Well, think again. Kaczmarek, who currently appears on TNT’s "Raising the Bar," couldn’t be more down-to-earth, and proved it when she sat down with wOw to discuss the charity she founded, Clothes Off Our Backs.

An online auction specializing in celebrity clothing and goods, COOB raises much-needed funds for a diverse mix of children’s, international and American non-profits.And, after learning about the devastation of heart disease on women everywhere, Kaczmarek joined forces with The Heart Truth, which auctions off dresses from the celebrity-heavy Red Dress runway show to raise money – and awareness – to fightcardiovascular diseases among our nation’s women. That auction, which can be found here, runs between now and February 27th.

Read on as Kaczmarek discusses her inspiration, how fame changed her and insuring her kids grow up with charitable hearts.

wOw: Hi, Jane! How are you?

JANE KACZMAREK: Fine, thanks. I’m just getting out of the beauty parlor and I’m sitting in my car driving home, where my daughter has spent the day home sick from school.

wOw: Oh, the poor girl!

JANE: So, I hope I can answer all of your questions.

wOw: Well, thank you for your time. First off, what was the inspiration behind your online charity auction, Clothes Off Our Backs, which you and your husband, Bradley Whitford, founded?

JANE: The inspiration was literally an embarrassment of riches landing on my doorstop when my husband and I became successful television actors. I was doing "Malcolm in the Middle" at the exact same time he was doing "West Wing," and we were just stunned by all the free stuff you get when you’re a celebrity. And we wondered if there was a way we could channel it into raising funds for children’s charities. So, in 2002 we started Clothes Off Our Backs, and have raised probably close to $4 million now, literally selling clothes that no one is ever going to where again. So we have auctions going on all year long with all sorts of different Hollywood celebrity memorabilia — clothes and scripts and all sorts of things.

wOw: Before we discuss your work with children’s organizations, how did you get involved with Red Dress and The Heart Truth, which raise awareness about heart disease among women?

JANE: Well, we pick about three different charities, children’s charities, every year for which to raise money. We are a very hands-on, mom-and-pop organization that gives people really great service and a lot of attention. Anyway, a woman named Michel Schneider, who runs operations for me, had conversations with the Red Dress people and we realized that we were a perfect match. And so we are going to be doing the auction for the Red Dress fashion show to raise money for women’s awareness of heart disease.

wOw: Prior to your involvement with Red Dress, were you aware of how many women die from heart disease each year across the world and America?

JANE: No. I was stunned because we’re so aware of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer. There are so many women’s issues that are spotlighted that I assumed one of those was the leading cause of death in women. Something I learned recently, also, is that the signs of heart disease — or heart attack — in women, are very different than they are for men. I guess most of the research has been done for men’s heart disease, and not much research done about women. And I was surprised that being both, obviously, human beings, a male and a female human being, I didn’t realize it would be that the symptoms and treatments would be that different. So I’m having my eyes opened.

wOw: There was an article, about — maybe we read the same article — not only about the different symptoms, but that most of the advice being given out to women in emergency rooms is just wrong. Women all across the nation are being misdiagnosed when, in fact, they’re having heart attacks or have another cardiovascular disease. Doctors simply are not educated enough on the differences in how to treat women and men with the same disease, basically.

JANE: To hear you say that the doctors aren’t even aware … My goodness. Well, I hope some of them come to the Red Dress auction and learn something about this, because that’s really just terrifying. We live in the United States of America.