Family members of Cory Tarrant, who died in a 2012 motocross crash, are inviting the community to a local fundraiser April 13, with the proceeds going to the 13th annual Donate Life Run Walk.

The fundraiser is being held at Big Mouth Pizza on Newhall Ranch Road.

“We’ll be there all day with giveaways like special cups and bumper stickers,” said Kathy Tarrant, whose son, Cory, died less than a week after a June 24, 2012, crash on a motorcycle. He was only 17 years old.

The Donate Life Run is a noncompetitive 5K or 1K run or walk April 23 designed to educate and inspire the community about organ and tissue donation, event officials said.

“Last year, I was the third-leading personal fundraiser,” Kathy said, “and, this year, it looks like I might be second.”

Proceeds from the run benefit the OneLegacy Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing organ and tissue donation and transplants through research, public education and honoring donors whose legacies live on.

This is the 13th year for Donate Life Run, a number significant to Kathy because it’s Cory’s riding number and his birthday was Jan. 13.

“He always used the no. 13 as his riding number on his bikes,” Kathy said.

Cory was set to graduate from high school six months early. It would have been a year early, but once he got his driver’s license, taking himself to the motocross track was too tempting, Kathy said. He planned to get his professional license once he graduated. 

“He was entertaining to watch,” she said. “He was a good rider with grace and skill.”

While Cory may always be remembered for his love of riding, he had many passions. He enjoyed photography, and whether the photo was of flowers or various scenes in nature, Kathy remembers using his photos for the front of the family’s Christmas cards every year.

Cory also loved to read with his parents.

“Every night, it was a marathon of reading books,” Kathy said. “Even when he got to high school, I’d read his homework to him sometimes. He just liked us to read together.”

OneLegacy invites runners and walkers, dialysis patients, transplant recipients, organ donors, donors’ families, health professionals and students to participate in the 13th annual run, which was held at California State University, Fullerton, event officials said.

Tarrant, who owns C and D Motosports in Canyon Country with her husband, Phil, and their son, Derek, are very involved in fundraising for OneLegacy, the organization that guided the family through the organ/tissue donation process after Cory’s death, she said. 

“I really do believe public awareness can be the answer to saving lives through organ donation,” she said. “There is no place better to start than our own community.”