Holly Robinson Peete

Q: Your work is around the issue of Parkinson's and your foundation is dedicated to the memory of your father. Tell us about your dad.

Well, my dad, Matt Robinson, was the original Gordon on "Sesame Street." For those of you who are somewhere near my age, we won't go there. But remember that in the late sixties, "Sesame Street" began, and that was obviously the beginning of the best, arguably, the best show for kids on television.

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Q: Why did you start your Parkinson's foundation?

We started getting letters from people who said…that her uncle would just sit on his couch and frozen up in a ball. This little girl from Harlem. She's just like, "Help me. I don't know what to do. I heard your dad has this disease." And so that's when we realized we wanted to help people and we wanted to have--give people an opportunity to learn how to manage it and live with it. Otherwise it's a really bleak situation.

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Q: What's your hope, short-term and long-term, for what will happen on this disease front?

Short-term I hope to make a half-million dollars this weekend and give it to the HollyRod Compassionate Care Program down at USC's Keck School of Medicine. For every $100,000 we make, we can help 65 people with Parkinson's that otherwise wouldn't get any help. But long-term, it's back to the stem cell thing. I just really would like to get on board of that movement to make sure that we can eradicate this, because I really don't think we have to have this disease, and Juvenile Diabetes and Alzheimer's, M.S. So, we have some work to do.

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Related Episode

July 8th, 2004

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Recommended Web Sites

AARP Radio follows a patient undergoing deep brain stimulation to treat Parkinson's disease.

Physicians and scientists answer questions at the Parkinson's Disease Foundation.

The HollyRod Foundation's Compassionate Care Program provides resources to those with limited financial resources.