By Angela Bender For The Sun
So during National Donate Life Month, A Night for Taylor’s Gift will raise money for a foundation named after Taylor Storch, who died just more than a year ago. The goal of Taylor’s Gift is to increase organ donation.
“Every single person is affected by this story. Everyone is touched by the tragic death and the tragedy to triumph,” said Nicole Suchevits, who became friends with the Storch family when she lived in Dallas before moving to Naperville. “They have taken this horrific situation, and they’re doing good out of it, and it’s helping them heal.”
Thirteen-year-old Taylor died in a ski accident on a family vacation in Colorado last March. Todd and Tara Storch donated her organs to five waiting recipients. Her heart beats in a 39-year-old mother, an infant received her liver, and a 50-year-old man has one of her kidneys and her pancreas.
“Just knowing that little bit of information was like a thread pulling us out of a hole,” said Todd, who recently visited Naperville and spoke to a Young Life group about the importance of organ donation.
After his daughter’s funeral, Todd started researching organ donation and was angered that only 2 percent of adults were registered in Texas. After much prayer, he quit his job as a media consultant and start Taylor’s Gift to spread the message that making a decision to be an organ donor while still living is the act of a hero.
Naperville’s connection
When Nicole heard of the Storches’ mission and foundation, she told them she wanted to hold a fundraiser in Naperville. She approached her friends from the River Woods area, none of whom had ever met the Storches, with the idea of a fundraiser, and quickly she had 13 committee members.
“It has snowballed into this amazing event,” said Nicole of A Night for Taylor’s Gift, which is the first fundraiser of its kind outside Texas.
Nicole’s daughter, Paige, also wanted to get involved. So, she, along with three of her sixth-grade friends from Madison Junior High School, decided to make wine charms and donate them to the fundraiser.
They went to Naperville’s Kasie’s Beads, wearing Taylor’s Gift T-shirts, and made a presentation about the foundation and what they hoped to accomplish. They were bought supplies at a discount. The girls assembled the charms, which will be given away as part of a wine auction at the event.
“They all feel very connected (to Taylor),” Nicole said. “(Paige) felt very touched by this story.”
Payton’s family, too
The event at Meson Sabika is as much about raising awareness for organ donation as it is about fundraising. Alan Krashesky, ABC news anchor and Naperville resident, will emcee the evening. Music will be provided by Love and Money. Todd and Tara Storch will be there; organ recipients, including Taylor’s heart recipient; Mayor A. George Pradel; and Jarrett Payton, whose family’s foundation has much in common with Taylor’s Gift.
“When my dad (Walter Payton) was sick, he wasn’t able to get a transplant,” Jarrett said. “I think it’s great to be able to have this event here.”
Taylor’s Gift has three goals: Re-gift life, renew health and restore families. Todd hopes people realize the gift they have to give and decide to become organ donors. He also wants to provide support to families who have lost a child suddenly.
“We can carry on the great things that Taylor did in 13 years,” Todd said. “Let’s start with spreading the message that, when you make a decision to be an organ donor, you’re doing good while living.”
What: A Night for Taylor’s Gift, a fundraiser for organ donation awareness
When: 6:30 p.m. April 16
Where: Meson Sabika, 1025 Aurora Ave., Naperville
Cost: Tickets $75 for open bar and four-course dinner; purchase online until April 4 at www.taylorsgift.org/naperville or by contacting Nicole at nsuchevits@comcast.net
On the Web: To learn more about Taylor’s Gift and becoming an organ donor, visit www.taylorsgift.org
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