“Did you know this was coming out in People Magazine?”, “How did that happen?”  ”What was that like?”….are some of the questions we have received.

We wanted to fill you all in and thought a blog post would be the best way.

First, we have to tell you how honored we feel for being featured in this national publication. What a huge blessing for Taylor’s Gift to reach millions of people and introduce the foundation to people who didn’t know about it.

Here’s the background story…over a year ago, we were contacted by a freelance writer for People Magazine. We did an interview and kept in contact with her but nothing came of it and the story was put on hold. Uh…yea…we were bummed. We thought it may not ever be published.

Fast-forward to summer of 2012:  Todd and I were in NYC and were able to meet for lunch with the Senior Editor of People Magazine. She connected us with a staff writer who reached out to us for an interview. The story was pitched to the editors and quickly approved. Emails started coming in about scheduling a photo shoot and doing another interview. A flutter of activity started and it was getting exciting!

In September, we headed to Arizona to spend some time with Patricia (keeper of Taylor’s heart) and while we were together they set up a photo shoot with one of their photographers. Of course the “what do I wear?” question came up about 100 times between me and Patricia. We changed our minds a lot and ended up still not 100% sure what we were both going to wear.

We went to a studio in downtown Phoenix and when Patricia walked in, it took my breath away. She was wearing the exact same color shirt as Taylor was in picture we brought. Of course!

Patricia and I got fluffed and pampered by hair and make-up people. We felt like celebrities! Todd got some make-up too, although he didn’t enjoy the process nearly like us girls did. Ha!

For 4.5 hours we smiled, changed positions, took breaks because our cheeks were hurting from all the smiling, re-touched makeup and enjoyed every moment of being together. Todd kept the humor and spirits up, as only Todd can do. They took hundreds of photos and we were all curious how they pick just one out of all of them. Even the photographer wasn’t sure which one they would pick, so we all crossed our fingers and realized we had to wait until it hit the stands to find out. We also knew this was a huge opportunity for Taylor’s Gift and tried to soak in the moment.

The photographer was fantastic. He was funny, relaxed, and let us go at our own pace. If you are ever in Arizona and need a photographer, Mark Peterman is someone to reach out to or use his services. He was awesome!

Here are some “behind the scenes” photos of the shoot. What a day!

Thanks for being on this journey with us!

Jonathan Finger received a kidney from Taylor, giving him another lease on life after being diagnosed with a rare kidney disease as a young adult. Jonathan received a kidney transplant from his mother in 2002, but unfortunately the organ rejected completely.

After years of intense dialysis, open heart surgery, and nearly eight years of waiting for yet another kidney transplant, Jonathan received Taylor’s gift, the gift of life, the gift we all have within. As a result, he no longer faces long-term dialysis and related health problems. Jonathan learned of Taylor’s story when her parents reached out to him. After learning of her story, Jonathan was emboldened to honor the one who saved his life by living life to the fullest. “I vowed to treasure this gift from Taylor, do what I could to memorialize her, and to live in the present.” Jonathan assembled a team for Taylor’s Gift Foundation and rode in the 2011 Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, a 500 mile, seven-day trek across Iowa.

This is the second year that Taylor’s Gift has sponsored a Donate Life Rose Parade Float participant. Last year, Patricia Winters, heart recipient of Taylor, rode on the float to honor Taylor and to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation.

Taylor’s Gift is proud to sponsor Jonathan as a float rider. Jonathan’s presence on the float will remind the millions watching of the gift we all have within.

Register to be an organ donor here!

Know someone touched by organ donation?  Tell them about Taylor’s Place for information!

Please participate by clicking here

It is amazing to me that today is November 1st!  Where has the year gone?

2012 has absolutely flown by and there is so much to be thankful for!

We need your help.  Today starts our Holiday Appeal and your contributions are needed to help us continue our work.

When we were honored by winning the 2012 “Best New Charity”, something really stuck with me.  The co-founder and CEO of the CLASSY Awards introduced all of the final candidates and said,

‘these charities not only have made major impact in a short amount of time,

but have the potential and ability to do amazing, world-changing work’.

There is so much work to be done!

• millions still need to register to become certified organ donors across the US
• over 115,000 people are on the waiting list for an organ donation
• donor families, transplant recipients and candidates have financial and emotional needs.  Our goal is that Taylor’s Place will provide grants based on those specific needs

To make this easy, all you need to do is visit www.stayclassy.org/TaylorsGiftHolidayAppeal.  Sign up and fundraise on our behalf or make a contribution.  No contribution is too small.

We have a $75,000 goal and with your help, we can exceed this.

Click here to contribute and help

Todd Storch

Founder : President

Taylor’s Gift Foundation

10/1 Update:  the 2012 National Winners

This weekend in San Diego was the 4th annual CLASSY Awards.  Of 2,400 total Nominees, our foundation was selected as the South Region’s “Best New Charity” and we were invited to the Awards Weekend.  I attended the weekend with my wife and co-founder, Tara.

On Saturday evening, Taylor’s Gift Foundation was named “Best New Charity” and this came at a complete surprise.  In our category, there were 3 other amazing Regional new charities:

• The Adventure Project
• Girls with Sole
• Military Family Voices

 The CLASSY awards is the largest philanthropic awards ceremony in the country, celebrating the greatest charitable achievements by nonprofit organizations, socially conscious business, and individuals worldwide.  

This weekend was totally inspirational….There were so many wonderful moments, it is hard to write them all down!

Here’s a few highlights:

From Friday’s CLASSY Collaborative:

Collaborative Agenda

• the New Children’s Museum is an awesome location (does need more fans on a hot day for air flow!)
• meeting founders Troy and Mareike Yocum from Active Heroes.  Love their passion!
• every volunteer genuinely seemed happy to be there working
• wish I could bottle up the energy of Back to the Roots co-founder, Alejandro Velez!
• when the A/V breaks down during a presentation…don’t worry, its all about the story and connecting with the audience.  Scot, you did a great job!
• thank God there are great people like Jake Wood of Team Rubicon helping our military veterans!

From CLASSY Awards Ceremony:

Stage from our seats

• this place was packed!!
• overwhelming to be surrounded by so many people working so hard to help others
• the line of the night was from emcee Adam Braun, when he said “it doesn’t truly describe the work this room is accomplishing by saying we work for a ‘non-profit’ organization.  I’d like to see ‘non-profit’ changed to ‘for purpose’.  So amazing to be surrounded by this many ‘for purpose’ organizations and people!
• had so many meaningful conversations and was especially excited to connect with Adam Garone, CEO and co-founder of Movember

I’ve been to many conferences and different award ceremonies before, but nothing has compared to this experience.  Surrounded by so many “for purpose” people, organizations, ideas, volunteers and causes is absolutely awe inspiring.

We are honored and humbled to be named “Best New Charity” and will use this opportunity to expand our efforts, reach and specific Taylor’s Place programs.

The work and success of Taylor’s Gift Foundation has just begun!

Founders Tara and Todd Storch

Update:

Here’s the video that kickstarted and ended the Classy Awards.  Very moving!  See if you spot a cameo of Taylor!

4th Annual CLASSY Awards – Impact Video from StayClassy on Vimeo.

On Friday, September 14th, we hosted our 3rd annual Taylor’s Gift golf tournament at the wonderful Brookhaven Country Club.

We had a full field of 144 golfers and dozens of volunteers all enjoying the cooler weather (no rain!)!

This year, Bob Sturm from SportsRadio 1310 the Ticket hosted the event.  Players enjoyed a great lunch and putting contest before starting their round.

Founders Todd and Tara Storch started the tournament with by highlighting the foundation’s “Taylor’s Place” and the Taylor’s Gift Scholarship.  By providing resources to those touched by organ donation and continuing to help increase organ donor registrations in Texas and the US, Taylor’s Gift continues to promote the gift we all have within and the spirit of “outlive yourself”!

Check back for pictures from the event and a huge thank you to our sponsors!

Special thank you to our Titanium Sponsor, Crossroads Diner!

There is a lot of content and information for you to review and we hope you click around and see what’s new!

A few questions we would like to answer:

Why the new website?

Great question!  We loved our last website and it was time for a new site that better highlights our foundation and the direction we are heading.  It was much easier to launch a new website with all of the new features, rather than trying to add and change the previous site.

For you techie’s out there, we also changed our CMS system for easier updates and changes to the site.  Our new site is very easy to manage and update and for a non-profit, being able to dedicate our resources to what’s most important is vital!

What’s new?

There’s a few areas we would like to highlight:

• Taylor’s Place
• Taylor’s Gift Scholarship
• Volunteer
• Events
• full site is available from your smart phone and tablet

Taylor’s Place is the online resource for all things organ donation.  This is designed to be the organ donation information and resource destination for transplant candidates and recipients, donor families and anyone needing information.  We have very big plans for Taylor’s Place online and you can help by sharing with us any other websites that could be highlighted on this page!

Our Taylor’s Gift Scholarship is very near and dear to our foundation and we are actively working to roll out scholarships to selected high schools in Texas and the US.  Please visit the page to see more information and how you can help identify additional schools to participate.

Our volunteer page is designed to make it easy for people to connect and help our efforts.

Our new Events page will be a destination point for all events our foundation is participating in or being highlighted.  We will continue to use Events at our  Taylor’s Gift Facebook page, but we have received lots of feedback that people wanted to be able to find out all of the events directly from our website.

No matter where you are, or what device you are using, you can reach TaylorsGift.org.  Try it from your smart phone or tablet!

As you continue to visit TaylorsGift.org, you’ll see additions and updates, so be sure to visit often!

We hope you love our new site as much as we do and please share this with your family and friends.

We have given 2 scholarships each year, one to a student of Coppell High School and another to a student from New Tech High School.

How the Scholarship Began

Taylor Storch attended Coppell Middle School East as an 8th grader.  After she died, her family wanted to plant a tree in her honor at the school’s student garden.  This garden was started as a 7th grade project in which Taylor and others help design.

An “in lieu of flowers” account was available for the community to donate funds and there was an outpouring in support and honor.

The Storch family founded Taylor’s Gift Foundation and dedicated these funds to two specific projects:  maintaining Taylor’s Garden as a public use facility and beginning the Taylor’s Gift Scholarship.

The Mission and Purpose

This scholarship is awarded to the applicant that best fits the theme of “How I Have Made a Positive Impact in the Lives of Others and In My World”.  It is this giving spirit that embodies the phrase “Outlive Yourself”.

Other scholarships focus on athletics and academic achievements, where the Taylor’s Gift Scholarship seeks to highlight those students that are truly making a positive impact in their world.  We have an independent scholarship committee that reviews all applications and determines each year’s winners.

Our goal is to bring this scholarship to selected schools across the US that believe in this giving spirit and will help us honor those students that truly are making the world a better place.  Please read more here on how you can help.

Current scholarship winners:

2012

• Maggie Gross – New Tech High School (Texas Christian University)

• Alexis Meyer – Coppell High School (Texas State University)

2011

• Nicole Bartley – New Tech High School (Texas A&M University)

• Amanda Olson – Coppell High School (University of Texas)

In June of 2012, this year’s report card was released.  You can read the full report here.

As an important reminder, Taylor’s Gift Foundation has and will continue to support Donate Life’s national efforts to increase organ donor registries.  The engine that drives our foundation is to increase each state’s official registry and continue to be a positive force in changing the conversation about organ donation to “It’s About Life”.

Some highlights of this year’s report:

• Nationwide, nearly 43% of individuals 18 and older have registered
• Alaska and Montana lead the country with 79% each, followed by Washington with 75% and Oregon with 73%
• Vermont, Texas, New York and Mississippi are at the bottom of the list
• more than 100M adults have registered in their state’s registries

Thank you to all of our volunteers across the US that continue to support our mission to Regift Life, Renew Health and Restore families.  Increasing organ donor registries is just the beginning.

If you are wanting to learn more about organ donation, then our “Helpful Resources” section is for you.

The information is organized by:

• General Information
• For Donor Families
• For Transplant Candidates
• For Transplant Recipients
• Living Donation
• International

Let us know if there are other helpful resources that should be included!

Helpful Resources is located in Taylor’s Place here.

Many times, we get asked “How Can I Help?”.

The easiest way to get involved with our foundation is to head over to our Volunteer page and fill out the information.

If you are over 18, we would ask you to register to be an organ donor and share your decision with friends and family!

Also, if you’re the social type, be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter!