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The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

by Kimberly Potts (see more from this contributor)

By: Emmy winner Michael J. Fox
Founded: 2000
Why: The Spin City and Back to the Future star announced in 1998 that he had been diagnosed with the disease seven years earlier.
Fund-raisers: An annual benefit dinner that has included concert performances and appearances from celebs like Heidi Klum and John Mayer adds to the organization's coffers every year, as do private donations, movie-premiere benefits and sporting events like golf tournaments. The Foundation also started Team Fox, a program that raises research funds through grassroots community efforts like sponsoring a team for the New York City Marathon.
How's it doing? The charity estimates that it has funded more than $80 million in research, on its own and with other groups. In addition, the Foundation recently collaborated in the launch of PDGene, a Website that lists studies on genes implicated in Parkinson's, and Fox still says the Foundation's ultimate goal is to help researchers find a cure for Parkinson's before 2010.
Michael says: "[The Foundation] is everything I hoped it would be. It's pure of motive, it's well staffed, and it's easy to follow. For me, as a layperson, I can pick up the phone anytime and say 'Where are we today?'"
You can give to: MichaelJFox.org

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