The Fox Focus 2020 Spring/Summer | Page 24

22 Fox Focus | Community Building Mileage for Milestones in 2020 Dan Dreiling (L) and Maureen Ashdown (R) celebrate completing a marathon on behalf of Team Fox with a friend. by KAT MCCARRICK By definition, Team Fox is the grassroots fundraising program of The Michael J. Foundation (MJFF). In practice, it’s the familiar ring of an orange cowbell, the “give 100 percent” trademark, and family. Built by those affected by Parkinson’s who fundraise to actively alter the trajectory of the disease, Team Fox is characterized by people like Maureen Ashdown of Cleveland, Ohio — who’s been there since the beginning. When Maureen’s father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2006, she turned to MJFF. As an avid runner living in Ohio, she decided the Chicago Marathon was a great way to fundraise for Parkinson’s research. “I sent out an email to tell people I was running to raise money for MJFF, on behalf of my father. The response was incredible,” she recalls. Back then, there wasn’t an official Team Fox Chicago Marathon team. It wasn’t until Maureen saw an email about another Team Fox member, Dan Dreiling, running Chicago that Maureen learned she wasn’t the only one. “I immediately looked up Dan’s page — he was running on behalf of his brotherin-law — and saw that he lived 20 minutes away,” says Maureen. She found a way to get in touch with him and the two ended up training and fundraising together for years. “Dan’s been an important part of this journey with me,” she says. Eleven marathons and countless new friendships later, Maureen remains committed to Team Fox. “Seeing my dad’s disease progress over the years, the more he was struggling, the more it’s meant to me and my five siblings.” “My dad got me into running. He ran the New York City Marathon in 1987,” she says. After he passed away in September 2018, Maureen’s mother gave her his medal. In the