CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — There was a fun event in Charleston Friday night, and it was all for a good cause. It was the annual “Porch Party” for Parkinson’s research.

The idea is to promote the upcoming Parkinson’s “Fox Trot” fundraisers to raise money for Parkinson’s disease research in hopes of finding a cure. The “Fox Trot” is named after famed actor Michael J. Fox, perhaps the most famous Parkinson’s patient in the nation.

“Right now we found a biomarker so now we can identify Parkinson’s early on. So now the research has got to be pointed towards on finding therapies early on in diagnosis. Instead of waiting until someone shows the symptoms, we can find out a way to help them when they haven’t shown the symptoms yet,” said George Manahan of Fox Trot West Virginia and a Parkinson’s patient.

West Virginia now has the third-highest Parkinson’s disease rate in the nation. The Charleston Fox Trot is on Saturday, Oct. 7, and the Huntington Fox Trot is on Saturday, Oct. 14. To sign up or donate, just go to their website by clicking here. WOWK-TV 13 is the media sponsor!