Robin Katsaros is a registered Fox Trial Finder volunteer and clinical trial participant. In this guest post, Robin shares her family's view on giving back this holiday season. She has also participated in the Giving Tuesday #UNselfie campaign, you can see her entry and others here.

The holiday season...Our favorite time of year when we reflect on the goodness in our lives and gather together with treasured family, mouth-watering food and lots of fun. 

But this year, as my husband John and I look around, we are reminded of what is really important in our lives. And we are particularly thankful for The Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF). Three weeks after my husband John was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2008, we found ourselves at an MJFF event led by co-founder Debi Brooks. As we listened, we were both in awe and comforted by the fact that this organization had the interests of the entire Parkinson's community in their sights. We felt protected and knew the vision was bigger than any one person.

Friends and family are always generously asking what they can do to help us. Our answer: Sign up for Fox Trial Finder, MJFF's online tool that matches potential trial participants with the trials that need them. Today, there's a bottleneck around clinical trial recruitment, and that holds up progress for all of us. But what's terrific about Fox Trial Finder is that it gives you the power to take action yourself to help speed breakthroughs.

The Foundation has a goal to reach 30,000 registered Fox Trial Finder volunteers by year's end. And we're less than 5,000 away. If every person who reads this post commits to signing up  (and if you've already signed up, thank you so much) we can reach our goal. It's our simple, yet powerful way to say "we are all in this together!" 

It takes just minutes to create your Fox Trial Finder profile. And remember, you don't have to have Parkinson's to enroll. PD research needs control participants, as well. That's why our two sons and I have signed up even though we don't have Parkinson's - they need all of us. 

Sign up today for Fox Trial Finder and be part of the tribe that moves the needle forward in finding a cure and easing the burden for those with Parkinsons. Together, we can beat this thing!