Anne Smith on the Atlantic City boardwalk in New Jersey to honor her father’s legacy. Photos courtesy of Anne Smith.
Ten years after losing her father to Parkinson’s, Run/Walk Series fundraiser Anne Smith, of Palmyra, New Jersey, turned a difficult anniversary into a day-long tribute to his life — and a call to support the research he cared about.
On August 19, Anne traveled 63 miles to Atlantic City, New Jersey, near where her father was born. She visited places that held meaning for him, shared his favorite foods and invited family and friends to help tell his story through videos. Along the way, she raised funds for Parkinson’s research, carrying forward the charitable legacy he left behind.
Anne’s connection to Team Fox, The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s grassroots fundraising community, began after she moved to Denver for a new job following her father’s death. When the city hosted its first Run/Walk, supportive colleagues joined her in creating her own team. Reaching her fundraising goal and walking alongside that team showed Anne where she belonged. Today, she continues to raise the bar, often planning an annual run/walk in a new city.
MJFF: What does being part of the Foundation’s Run/Walk Series community mean to you?
Anne Smith: It means everything to me. The support that I get from the Foundation blows my mind. Often, it’s just me fundraising for my team. It feels like I haven’t quite met my village yet, where I can be one of those people in those big fundraising teams. But it truly means the world to me because I know that one day I will get there. It will take time, and I will have to work on it, but I will get there.
MJFF: How do you approach fundraising, and what does it mean to know every dollar you raise supports Parkinson’s research?
Anne: As much as social media can drive me nuts, I know it’s a necessary evil for fundraising. I know how much comes from Facebook alone, so that has been the biggest strategy. Now that I have come to public social media, I’m starting to learn new strategies: how to keep people involved and informed, and how to make content so they don’t scroll three seconds into a video. My strategies are always evolving. Whatever I see works, I focus on that and try to go from there.
As far as how I feel about every dime going to the Foundation, there’s simply no other way. To me, every dollar matters, and every dollar will go to the Foundation.
MJFF: What has been the most rewarding part of the Run/Walk Series experience?
Anne: The Foundation’s Run/Walk’s are always rewarding, but this particular year, I had the absolute honor of being at the starting line at the Washington, D.C. Run/Walk. I was having a little trouble with my Raynaud’s disease, but absolutely nothing mattered. Just to be able to see so many warriors, so many smiles and so many excited people starting their walk was probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever experienced. I was cheering to the point where I didn’t have a voice for about a week — ringing a cowbell and waving pom-poms.
Even more rewarding were the people simply thanking me for being there. As if I’m doing anything so important, but they still felt the need to say thank you when there’s absolutely no thank you needed. That particular event was one of the most rewarding days of this entire experience.
MJFF: When you think about the future of Parkinson’s research, what gives you the most hope?
Anne: I think the future actually goes back to the past. When my father was diagnosed, his first doctor told him that the disease happens to primarily older Caucasian and Asian men. Genetics were thrown around casually with no real answers. Medications were different. Treatments were different.
Of course, it breaks my heart that my father didn’t get to take advantage of this progress, but I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Since I’ve been involved with this for so many years, I remember the days when we simply didn’t have much of anything at all — just hope and organizations working for us.
I do think the future looks very good as long as people are out there raising the money we need for research. I don’t plan on doing this for his 20th anniversary of his passing; I have such hopes that we will hear those words we’ve been desperate to hear by that point: There’s a cure.
