On Monday, the late Taylor Storch would have turned 25 years old. Instead, her life was cut short by a fatal skiing accident in 2010 before she had the chance to graduate middle school. 

In her memory, Get You In Shape Fitness held a morning workout session at Andy Brown Park East today to raise money for the Taylor Storch Memorial Scholarship. Around two dozen Coppell residents gathered on the pavement outside the CORE’s swimming area dressed in thick leggings and layers of shirts and pullovers. Despite the coldest temperatures this month, the community came together to contribute to the Taylor Storch Memorial Scholarship while staying fit. 

Following her death, Taylor’s parents made the decision to donate her organs, saving five lives in the process. Since then, they found two other significant ways to serve their community through their daughter’s memory: establishing the Taylor’s Gift foundation for organ donation and the Taylor Storch Memorial Scholarship for graduating CHS seniors. Today’s event raised a total of $2,000 to be given to a graduating CHS senior who embodies the motto of the Taylor’s Gift foundation: “Outlive yourself.”

Taylor’s mother, Tara Storch, and her brother, Coppell High School 2017 graduate Ryan Storch, attended the workout. Mrs. Storch’s sad smile as she talks about Taylor’s death is a reminder that 11 years may not be enough to heal the wounds of a tragedy so deep it changed a family forever.

“[Organ donation] became the purpose out of the pain,” Mrs. Storch said. “It turned the tragedy into a ripple effect of good that was helping others. We had a choice to either cave up in the grief or find the good. The good was that she saved lives.”

Many close to the Storch family and Taylor’s school, Coppell Middle School East, donated to the scholarship. Victory Place @ Coppell teacher Rhonda Shaw recalls the tremendous impact of Taylor’s accident on the community.

“[Taylor’s death] made the high schoolers that I work with realize that stuff happens all the time that you’re not planning on,” Shaw said. “Things like this challenge you to live your life differently and to take more time. Just because you’re young, doesn’t mean you’re going to live forever.”

Get You In Shape CEO Brad Linder led the session, instructing participants through a warm up, a set of 10 exercises and a cool down. Attendees were encouraged to adapt each step to their body’s ability. 

Since the establishment of Get You In Shape in 2006, Linder has hosted countless charity events to give back to Coppell, including this workout and the annual Coppell Special Olympics. 

“One of our core values is to use our God-given gifts to give back to local charities,” Linder said. “We want to put our clients in a positive environment. Number one, they get to work out and burn calories, and number two, they get to give back to a good cause.”

Get You In Shape set up an online donation platform to allow people who could not attend today’s session the opportunity to contribute.

Follow Trisha (@trishatluri) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.