Many people do good things; here in Star Wars fandom, costuming groups put in the toil and the hours to shake tins and raise incredible amounts for a plethora of charities across the globe, efforts that remind us just what this saga is all about. Enter Michael J. Fox, star of the Back to the Future trilogy, Hollywood legend for decades and also a man who 35 years ago was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and who, instead of retreating got on the front foot and dived headfirst into a life of service to finding the cure to Parkinson’s. This year the Michael J. Fox Foundation is on course to raise a mindblowing $700m, and onstage at yesterdays THR Social Impact Summit, Fox’s Shrinking co-star Harrison Ford gave Fox and the foundation the Philanthropic Organization of the Year award, and praised Fox for his hard work and tenacity.
To close out the event, Harrison Ford stopped by to present the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and its founders Michael J. Fox and Deborah W. Brooks, with the Philanthropic Organization of the Year award. The foundation has become one of the most successful disease-focused nonprofits of the century, funding more than $3 billion in research and shaping the current scientific landscape for Parkinson’s.
At the podium, Ford spoke of how “35 years ago, Michael J. Fox got some very bad news. Most people handed something like that endure it; Michael went right to work. Playing Paul Rhoades on Shinking gave me some understanding of what it means to live with Parkinson’s” — Ford’s character is diagnosed in the Apple TV comedy — “and it also gave me Michael, as an actor, as a friend and the most stubborn optimist I know. Through him, I’ve seen what his foundation does,” including being on track to raise $700 million in research this year alone.