Vidette Todaro-Franceschi Tackles ‘Compassion Fatigue’

Vidette Todaro-Franceschi

Vidette Todaro-Franceschi almost didn’t become a nurse. But after studying journalism and business and having two children, she decided to go back to school and answer the “call to care.”

A mother of three by the time she graduated with her first degree in 1982, Todaro-Franceschi fell in love with nursing. She continued her studies and earned a BSN in 1985. But over time, the stress of the job got to her. As she recounted in a recent interview, she considered quitting and applied for a job at Macy’s, “I was compassion fatigued. There were times when I just felt like quitting. Not all health care settings have all the resources and systems in place to provide quality care the way nurses want to provide it. When you work in a field where you are frequently fighting against a gradient to do the right thing, it tires you out. So I applied for a job at Macys.”

But she admitted that she kept her plan a secret, “I didn’t tell anyone about it. But when they offered me a management position, I had to tell my husband I was considering it. He looked at me like I was growing two heads and said, ‘Are you crazy?’ I realized then that I was being silly — that there were other options and that I needn’t give up my career. So I went back to school and cut back to part time.”

Todaro-Franceschi earned a Master’s Degree, which she acknowledged “opened up a new world for me. Once I earned my master’s degree, all kinds of career opportunities became available. In addition to staying in practice, I became a scholar, doing research, writing and presenting.” 

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Paul Fisher

Photo Courtesy of Paul Fisher

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

Recently we had the good fortune to speak one-on-one with supermodel agent Paul Fisher. He used to have a show on CW called Remodeled, which followed him as he put together The Network, a coalition of modeling agencies worldwide that have banded together under one umbrella to create a new voice in the fashion industry. Paul and The Network are tired of the way models have been treated all these years and are trying to do something about it.

He told us, "At The Network I have this dream of creating a safe environment for young people around the world. I wanted agencies in secondary markets, to take care of these incredible faces that they're mining, that haven't been [taken care of] for so many years. That have been disrespected by the bigger agencies for so many years. And so I'm trying to do something different. I'm trying to change the industry. I'm trying to create a shift in paradigm of how the kids are treated in the industry."

Paul said that having had Remodeled on the air was a double-edged sword. "On one hand the show has really helped me because kids all over the world now know me. It's easier for me to get into certain doors, it opens certain doors to speak with certain people… and agencies from all over the world want to join the Network. But the stronger we become, the more challenges that we face."

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Anne Heche

 Photo by Colleen Hayes/NBC 

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

Over the years Anne Heche has come to be known for her small screen successes like Men in Trees and Hung. And she’s also had her share of high profile missteps in the press. But she’s back in primetime with a brand new series about a mid-Western woman who can talk to God.

Anne’s professional journey started when she was just 17 years old and was cast as Vicky Hudson on Another World. In a recent conference call interview she admitted that her career in television almost had an abrupt ending. “I tried to quit acting after I stopped that job. I wanted to go to Parsons School of Design. I never thought in a million years that anybody would continue to hire me as an actress.”

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: John Krasinski

  Photo by Chris Haston/NBC

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

This week, after nine seasons, The Office comes to an end. John Krasinski has played Jim Halpert for the run of the show. His character has fallen in love, become a husband and father, started his own sports marketing company and hit some trouble in his marriage. John went from waiter to megastar — and married British actress Emily Blunt along the way. In a recent conference call interview he talked about saying goodbye to the show that launched his career and transformed his life.

John talked about his meteoric rise to fame on The Office, saying, “I was a waiter before this show, so what I miss most about this character is way too complexly entwined in my real life. So to me, this was a winning lottery ticket, except with a winning lottery ticket you just get money and with this you get a whole change of your life. And everything about my life has changed and become better. And I feel so lucky to be where I am. It’s hard to separate the two because I’m meshed in the experience.”

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Kym Whitley

Photo courtesy of OWN

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

Raising Whitely, which premiered April 20 on OWN, follows the life of actress/comedienne Kym Whitley, who got a surprising phone call from a hospital one day about a year and a half ago. They had a baby for her. Only thing was, she wasn’t planning on adopting a baby. She had an hour to make the decision or the infant would be placed in the foster system. She did what any kind-hearted, self-sacrificing person would do. She took him in and got the help of her “Village” of family and friends to raise Joshua. We caught up with Kym and heard her story in her own words.

Kym was born in Cleveland, Ohio but spent her early childhood in Sudan, Khartoum with her family. They moved back to Shaker Heights, Ohio, when she was a pre-teen. She always enjoyed performing and was involved in all her school plays in both high school and college. She said, “I loved to be in front of an audience or camera all the time. Shortly after college, I came to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.”

Soon she was acting in TV shows like the UPN comedy Sparks, and doing guest spots on shows like Grey's Anatomy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Missing, That's So Raven, The Cleveland Show and Animal Practice. Her career was on a role. She stated felt like she was “walking in my dream.” She told us, “A lot of people come out to L.A. with the dream of being a paid actor. The fact that I have been a paid actor for so very many years — that truly means that I am ‘walking in my dream.’ I get to do what I LOVE everyday and I get paid for it.”

Kym didn’t take her success for granted and began giving back. She said, “I have this uncanny knack for finding people who need mentoring. I knew the brother of Joshua’s biological mother.  She was headed down the wrong path — so I took it upon myself to help her take a better direction. Currently, I participate in organizations like Jenesse Center in Los Angeles.”

Here’s what happened next:

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: John Ratzenberger

 Courtesy of FX

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

Actor John Ratzenberger is used to getting laughs on TV shows like Cheers and Legit and Pixar films including Toy Story and Monsters Inc. But off-camera he’s attached himself to some pretty serious causes, most notably what he refers to as “the manufacturing crisis in America.”

Rather than just complain about the shortage of jobs for skilled laborers in the United States, the television icon has contributed to his star power to raise awareness for the cause. In a recent conference call interview, he explained, “M.O.S.T. is a program, it’s Mobile Outreach Skills Training.  What we do is we pull up our trailer trucks that are outfitted as classrooms with computers.  We put people to work.”

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: The Bible

  Photo by ©2012 A+E Networks, LLC

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

There’s always a lot of controversy surrounding religious issues. But uber-Executive Producer Mark Burnett found himself being faced with drama of biblical proportions recently when viewers of his mini-series The Bible thought that his casting choice for the devil looked a tad bit like President Barack Obama. Subconscious misstep or not, Burnett’s reasons for producing the show go far beyond a simple gossip fueled ratings race.

As he explained in a recent conference call interview he talked about how he and his wife, Roma Downey got involved with the project, “I believe in God and I believe in The Bible, and I therefore if I’m hearing a voice inside me, I know it’s God.  Some people, who don’t believe that — they call it instincts, I guess, but the one thing many people forget to do is follow that voice inside them.  Be it for people who believe in God or an instinct. And we knew this is what we should do. We’ve done it.” 

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: The Biggest Loser

Photo by Trae Patton/NBC

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

Tuesday night Danni Allen won the title of The Biggest Loser by losing 121 lbs. After ten weeks on the ranch and an emotional fight to overcome her demons, Danni was victorious, beating out runner-up Jeff Nichols by just one pound. We talked to Danni in a recent conference call about her journey on the ranch and what she learned through the process.

Initially Danni was part of Jillian Michael’s White Team, which one-by-one was eliminated right from the start, leaving her as the sole surviving member by the fifth week. She recalled, “I was all by myself crying in my bed because I had no more team. I was all by myself, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I didn’t think I was going to make one more week.” She said she never dreamed that she’d “be standing at the top with the confetti falling down and the giant check for $250,000... But the best thing was that week I did learn that it was up to me to change things, it’s in my hands to change my stars. And I was able to do it, and I think that’s the best story for everyone out there, and we’re challenging America. If I can do it, you totally can do it.”

Danni said that losing all her team members early on and being forced to stand alone was the best thing that could have happened to her. She noted, “It forced me to confront myself. I was the girl that had the disease to please. I was always worrying about everyone else and not worrying enough about myself. Well when my team left, I had no one else to worry about but myself, and I was finally able to put into perspective that you have to help yourself before you can help anyone else.”

This week's inspiring pop culture moment: Nate Berkus

Courtesy of OWN

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things; a TV shows that inspires us to be better. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

There’s a lot more to learn from Nate Berkus than just how to create a pretty environment. As one of Oprah Winfrey’s trusted inner circle of experts, the interior designer rose to TV fame and unparalleled business success.

But he’s also experienced hardship. He survived the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka but lost his partner, Fernando Bengoechea, in the tragedy. And his self-titled daytime chat show was canceled after just two seasons. In a recent exclusive interview, the optimistic author of a new book The Things That Matter talked about bouncing back from adversity.

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: William Shatner

Photo by JF Leblanc

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

He may be best known as Captain Kirk, leader of the Starship Enterprise, and Denny Crane, a lawyer from Boston Legal, but William Shatner is also a man with a big heart. This week we had the pleasure of attending Cavalia's Odysseo, a horse spectacular by the creators of Cirque du Soleil. Shatner, a life-long and well-known horse lover, shows and breeds equine at his farm in Kentucky and rides competitively with Saddlehorses and American Saddlebreds nationwide.

He came to the big tent in Burbank, California, to not only see the spectacle but also to share it with others. Before the show, Artistic Director Normand Latourelle, presented Shatner with a check equal to the amount of 1,000 tickets to Odysseo, so Shatner can pass those out to his charities. In all, ten organizations will get 100 tickets to Odysseo.

Shatner talked about his organization, the Hollywood Charity Horse Show, that also does a performance every year in April. He stated, "For about 30 years now, we've raised several million dollars for local children's charities." This year they have teamed with Cavalia to raise funds and bring these kids to see the magical performance.

Shatner also works with All Glory Project, which deals with veterans coming back from war. She noted, "It just so happens that veterans, and their physical and emotional needs, are some of the same as children who have emotional and physical needs. A lot of the charities that we devote money to are therapeutic riding charities." And so the vets will also benefit from Shatner's generosity.

We sat next to a woman from LA's Children Hospital, a recipient of funds from Shatner's charity and now she has been given 100 tickets to bring sick kids and their families to escape from their stressful lives for an afternoon of wonder.

After the check was presented, the curtain rose and the show began. It was as awe-inspiring and breathtaking as we had hoped (more on that later). When it was over Shatner tweeted, "What an amazing show this afternoon at #OdysseoLA Media Preview. This show is a hit. Thank you for such a treat! My best, Bill."

Tickets to Odysseo range from $34.50 to $269.50 for a VIP package complete with tour of the stables. For more info visit the Cavalia website. Shatner's Hollywood Charity Horse Show will take place this year on April 27 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, California. For more info visit the charity's website.

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This week's inspiring pop culture moment: Brendan O'Connell
This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: The Biggest Loser

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This week's inspiring pop culture moment: Brendan O’Connell

Courtesy of Brendan O’Connell

 
Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things; a TV shows that inspires us to be better. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment. 

Brendan O’Connell is a talented painter who discovered his talents while he was in his 20s and living in Paris. While writing a novel about artists, he decided to teach himself to draw so he could better connect to his subjects. He instantly realized his inner passion. 

After returning to America years later, Brendan has found success with a series of paintings that make the mundane beautiful by depicting items in the aisles of Walmart. And while he continues to explore his own creativity, he hopes to inspire it in others. 

As a result, Brendan co-founded a very special organization. In a recent exclusive interview, he described his mission, “Everyartist.me's purpose is really simple. It's to spark next generation creativity.”

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: The Biggest Loser

Photo by Trae Patton/NBC

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

We warned you a few weeks ago that we could make The Biggest Loser our Inspirational Pop Culture Moment every week. And while we promise we won't be that predictable, we were truly inspired by this episode of the show.

As the episode began the remaining seven contestants were told that they could all win immunity this week if they collectively dropped at least 70 pounds. This is a tough challenge, indeed, considering they lost 61 at the last weigh in and they all had big numbers. So they were relieved to hear they may be able to lower that collective weight loss number. But the fate was in the hands of the kids who are part of this season's focus on childhood obesity.

Three kids — Sunny, Biingo and Lindsay — have been working remotely with Jillian, Bob and Dolvett to become more active, focus on healthy diet choices and get into better shape. This week it was time to test how far they have come to date and in doing so, possibly help their adult counterpart on the ranch. They have the chance to lower the total collective weight loss goal by ten pounds.

The challenge was two-fold — brains and brawn. In the brains part of the challenge the kids were asked to identify the lower calorie meal between two choices. They got four out of five right, lowering the total wight loss amount by four pounds, but more importantly showing that the message about healthy eating was getting throughout to them.

And then in the second part of the challenge, their physical fitness was put to the test. At the beginning of the season they were given a fitness test, which each of them did far below average on. Now they would be retested. If they improved over their last score the adults would get another pound off their total goal.

First up was Bingo, who crushed his original sit-up mark of 18 by doing 35 this time. He also did 32 push-ups, 9 more than the initial test. Lindsay was able to 79 chin-ups more than doubling her record of 37. She also was able to do the shuttle run in 32 seconds instead of 35. And in the most inspiring moment of the week, Sunny, who took 13 minutes to run a mile the first time, set herself a goal of doing it in 10. She crossed the finish line, accompanied by all of the players in the game, in 9 minutes and 59 seconds.

It brought tears to our eyes to see these kids, setting their goals and exceeding them. A true inspiration for all kids everywhere.

Watch The Biggest Loser season on Monday nights at 8 p.m. EST/7 p.m Central on NBC.

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This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Ludo Lefebvre
This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: The Biggest Loser

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This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Ludo Lefebvre

  ABC/Sasha Shemirani 

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.
 
The Taste is a cutthroat reality competition show in which four celebrity food personalities must choose the best talent simply on the flavor of one spoonful. Perhaps the toughest mentor is chef Ludo Lefebvre, the classically trained French culinary master. But not only does the 41-year-old hope to influence his contestants, he’s proven to be a man of his word in the pressure cooker that is reality TV.

In a recent exclusive interview, Ludo explained that he hopes to serve as an instructor to the members of his team, “You can see in the competition I’m very involved with cooking and all the time I’m with them I only show them new things. I don’t want to let them cook what they want. I want to teach them new technique. I want to give them inspiration.”

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: The Biggest Loser

Photo by Tyler Golden/NBC

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

We could pretty much pick The Biggest Loser as our inspiring moment every week since the show itself is always a motivator in so many ways. But this season, the weight loss series is focusing on the problem of childhood obesity so it takes the inspirational aspect up another notch.

Lisa Rambo,who was sent home from The Biggest Loser ranch last week, talked in a recent conference call about the issue and how it has affected her. Lisa is a special education teacher in a Wisconsin high school and since returning from the series, she has been showing her students ways to live a healthier lifestyle. She said, "[I have been] making healthier choices in our classroom and getting our students moving and finding things that they love.”

She has encouraged them to “fall in love with this process and what do you love about this.” She continued, “So it's just exposing our students to more ways to move like bowling and swimming and all of these things. And them falling in love with it and then you want to do it. It's not a chore. Working out doesn't have to be a chore.”

Lisa said she struggled with her body image growing up. “I was a overweight high schooler. I've always been on the bigger side of life. I was a cheerleader when I was in high school. And I remember getting our uniforms and the high school not having a skirt that fit me and my aunt having to make mine.”

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Ryan Murphy

  Courtesy of 2010 Fox Broadcasting Co.

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

It’s hard to imagine that the man behind shows like Nip/Tuck and American Horror Story might have a change of heart when it came to violence on TV. But at a recent press event to talk about the season finale of AHS: Asylum, showrunner Ryan Murphy admitted that he’s starting to look at things a little differently these days.

The relative newlywed and father to one-month old baby boy, Logan, acknowledged that thanks to changes in his private life, he’s got a fresh perspective. He remarked, “It’s a very personal thing and I always think that movies and television reflect the culture. But I did just had a kid and so for the first time for me I’ve been in the position to have a parental feeling about my work, which is very cool and unusual for me.”

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Lisa Ling

Photo courtesy of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

This week Season 4 of Our America with Lisa Ling premiered, and once again the show delved into a topic not many people feel comfortable discussing, but somehow made it approachable and nonjudgmental. Lisa tackled the topic of bondage in the season opener and will follow it up with shows about childhood obesity, families of killers, polyamorists and martyrs for Christ. Each week Our America explores the worlds we don't even know exist and opens our minds to the lives of those around us.

At a recent press event Lisa talked about the new season saying, "In our fourth batch of shows — the quality of our shows, the writing — we've all honed our skills even more so. And I'm so proud of what we're producing in this fourth batch."

She continued, "This is the proudest I've ever been of the work that I've done. I've been in this business for well over 20 years and this is the culmination of all the things that I've had the privilege and fortune of being able to do."

Ling said she gets the access to the people she covers because the reputation of the show proceeds her. She said, "We treat everyone we feature on our show with dignity and respect, irrespective of what they may have been accused of doing or what they're currently doing. I know that they appreciate it and they know that we're not going to exploit their stories."

She credits the style of the show with creating a place for viewers to come and learn. "Our show is the least loud and sensational show on TV. If you really think about it, our shows are slow moving and they're beautifully shot and they're very introspective… It's unlike any other show in that way because it breaths and allows you to get immersed in the lives of these people."

Lisa looks forward to doing more and more shows for the series because as she said, "There are no shortage of stories in this country."

And the driving force behind the show's continuous success is the passion. "Our teams consist of deeply passionate people. It drives me. It is my baby. It is the thing about which I am most passionate and everyone on our team feels the same way."

She added, "Everyone on my teams knows that opportunities like this come around never. Literally never. If this goes away we might not ever get another chance to do this kind of programming and not sound cliche but I really don't think we'd be able to do it anywhere but [OWN]. This network has gone through its ups and downs — and thank goodness it's on this amazing uptick right now — but regardless of the roller coaster that it's been on, it's been so supportive of the show and for that we will always be grateful.

Tune into Our America with Lisa Ling Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. EST/9 p.m. Central on OWN.

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Lisa Ling's Passion for Journalism Shines on Our America
Go Out and See Our America with Lisa Ling

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This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Sutton Foster

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

On the ABC Family series Bunheads, Michelle Simms struggles to make her way in a world that’s a bit foreign to her. The Vegas showgirl turned seaside dance teacher is trying to find her footing so to speak. But the actress who plays her, Sutton Foster, knows that fans can learn a thing or two from her misguided character.

Sutton can’t exactly pinpoint what makes her TV alter ego such an unexpectedly wonderful role model for girls. She conceded, “Michelle is a hot mess… but she’s a lovable mess — someone that you’re rooting for and you want her so desperately to find her way.”

This week's inspiring pop culture moment: Sara Rue

Photo by ABC/Edward Herrera

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

Sara Rue isn’t just a season TV actress, she’s quite the philanthropist, too. Besides her penchant for playing poker for charity, she has had long standing connections with Project Angel Food, The Point Foundation, CAST and The Lily Claire Foundation.
 

This week's inspiring pop culture moment: Wolfgang Puck

 

Photo by Isabella Vosmikova/Bravo 

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things; a TV shows that inspires us to be better. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

Winning a big reality show like Top Chef doesn’t look easy. But in a recent interview with culinary celebrity Wolfgang Puck, he said that after victory is when the hard work really begins. And yet, with a little bit of leadership and a lot of teamwork he explained that success was certainly achievable.

As Wolfgang noted, “What you really have to do is sit down and know your strengths and your weaknesses. And if you are… a chef in a restaurant, hire the appropriate people to help you to be successful. In a way, once you go into the next step, owning a restaurant or being a chef, you have to be a coach and a player in a way. So you have to be able to do both.”

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Michael J. Fox

Photo by Pop Culture Passionistas

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

This past weekend stars gathered in New York City to support one of their own at the "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinsons" benefit. The Michael J. Fox Foundation held it's annual gala at the Waldorf Astoria on Saturday night. The event is put on each fall to raise awareness of and money for the Foundation's efforts to help cure Parkinson's disease, which Fox is afflicted with.

Fox's Rescue Me co-star Denis Leary hosted the evening and started the night off with an original song he wrote for the Family Ties actor. According to the Wall Street Journal, Leary and his band, The Enablers, sang, "Everyone is wondering how long I'm going to last. I'm Michael J. Fox, I'm kicking Parkinson's a—."

Fox joked that he just might use the ditty as the theme song to his new NBC sitcom. Leary, who often razzes Fox about all his Emmys, explained his friend's new sitcom, "The premise is Mike Fox comes back to TV. I'm not bitter."

Presenters that evening included Fox's wife of 24 years Tracy Pollen along with journalist Katie Couric, CBS correspondent Bill Geist (who recently announced his own Parkinson's diagnosis), his son Willie Geist, ad exec and TV personality Donny Deutsch and actress Amanda Peet. Bill Geist gave a speech and jokes he was penning a memoir entitled "I'd Shoot Myself, but I Might Miss."

Next up was comedian Louis CK who gave the centerpiece performance of the event. At the end of his routine he introduced Fox, who got up and made a speech, thanking everyone for coming, even in the wake of superstore Sandy. He stated, "There's nothing we can't achieve together; thank you for everything you do."

And then in a Marty McFly-like moment, Fox jumped up on stage with the evening's musical guest, Elvis Costello, who did a rousing set including "Pump It Up."

Almost 1000 guests were in attendance at the event, which raised $4.5 million for Parkinson's research.

Read more about the Michael J. Fox Foundation at their website.


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This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Yolanda Goins
This week's inspiring pop culture moment: Jane Lynch

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