Margita Petrovic

As one of the original founding members of Team Fox Detroit, I am incredibly honored, humbled and grateful to be celebrating our 10th annual Gala.

The support of our community, family and friends over the last decade has been nothing short of extraordinary. One of the most beautiful things about being part of Team Fox is witnessing how many people want to be a part of something bigger than themselves in the search for a cure for Parkinson’s.

Any time I have reached out to someone — to attend an event, become a sponsor, donate to a raffle or simply help spread the word — I have been overwhelmed by the response. I have learned that people want to help. They simply need an avenue to do good. And when you give them one, they take that runway and soar.

When my Aunt Donna was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s, it was something we knew very little about. What we did know was that someone we loved deeply — someone who brings so much joy, love and light to everyone around her — was suddenly facing the unknown. We wanted answers. We wanted hope. We wanted to know there was a team of brilliant people out there dedicating their lives to ending this disease.

Enter our first Michael J. Fox Foundation Gala in New York.

We arrived in New York with hope in our eyes, and we left with something even greater: purpose. Because beneath all the glitz and glamour — and trust me, there was plenty of it… perhaps even a celebratory stop at Chanel… There was something far more powerful happening. There was a room full of people refusing to accept Parkinson’s as the final answer.

I remember leaving New York knowing we could do more.

So, around a little table at Selden Standard, with four people and one very big purpose, Team Fox Detroit was born.

Ten years later, I look back with immense pride at what this community has helped make possible. In the last decade alone, The Michael J. Fox Foundation has funded more than $2.5 billion in Parkinson’s research. They have helped drive the discovery of the first-ever biological marker for Parkinson’s, making earlier detection and faster treatment possible. More than 4,000 volunteers around the world are

participating in groundbreaking studies that are changing what we know about this disease and how we fight it.

And we are seeing those advances in real life. Better treatments. More awareness. More conversations around the importance of exercise and movement. More hope.

We are not done yet.

Parkinson’s still exists, and our mission is not complete until it doesn’t. But because of what we have built together over these last 10 years, I know we are closer than ever.

I’m Margita Petrovic, and I am proud to be one small part of the equation in finding a cure for Parkinson’s.

Come join us as we celebrate 10 years of Team Fox Detroit — and help us keep going until Parkinson’s no longer exists in our vocabulary. Not because we stopped talking about it, but because we finally found the cure.

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