Lou Russo and his family hosted their third annual “Putt for Parkinson's" golf event in July. This year they had 100 golfers and were able to double funds raised from the year prior — raising more than $9,000 for Team Fox! We took a few minutes to catch up with Lou to hear how everything went and why his commitment to this event strengthens each year:

My Dad has lived with Parkinson's disease for more than 6 years now. In the last several years his PD has progressed much quicker than any of us could have anticipated. My family decided that we could no longer sit idle and watch our father manage this difficult disease on his own. Rather, we thought it was important to team up with The Michael J. Fox Foundation year after year — to fight back against this disease and help my father and others with PD.

In just our third year as part of Team Fox we have been able to grow our "Putt for Parkinson's" event significantly each year. Specfically, in 2015 we had more than 100 people in attendance for the golf and dinner portion of our event and we were able to raise over $9,000 this year (nearly double what we raised last year!) Success would not have been possible without the hard work from all those on our Event Committee (which includes my wife, mother, sister, mother-in-law and sister-in-law, pictured below) and all of those who attend our event and continue to support us.

We expect to continue to improve our success with this event each year going forward. Our hope is that through our fundraising efforts, researchers and doctors will be able to develop a more effective treatment and medication plan to better treat Parkinson's patients, like my father. 

Lastly, I just want my father to know that he is the driving force for our involvement. My family and I are dedicated to helping him find a better approach to fighting this disease. Dad is my role model, my hero, the best father a son could ask for and my best friend. It's our way of saying, "hang in there, Dad; you are not alone in all of this — our entire family is right here beside you."

Congratulations to Lou and his entire family on such a successful 2015 event! We can’t wait to see what you have in store for us next year. 

Interested in hosting an event in your community and fundraising in support of Parkinson's research? Join Team Fox today. This goes to show that hard work (and a knack for golf) can go a long way.