[KHTS] – A Santa Clarita family raised more than $5,000 at the annual Donate Life Run/Walk in honor of their son, Cory Tarrant, who died after a motocross crash in 2012, family members said Monday.

A group of about 60 friends and family members participated in the walk Saturday as part of Cory’s Forever Young team, Cory’s mother, Kathy Tarrant said.

“This is the second year that we’ve been there so it was still very emotional for us, having lost Cory a little less than two years ago,” she said. “It’s nice to be part of the celebration of what our loved ones were able to give.”

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

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

OneLegacy invited runners and walkers, dialysis patients, transplant recipients, organ donors, donors’ families, health professionals and students to participate in the 12th annual run, which was held at California State University, Fullerton during the last days of National Donate Life Month.

The first walk 12 years ago had only about 1,200 participants, but “it’s really continued to grow over the years,” Tarrant said, with this year’s event drawing more than 13,000 participants and raising more than $396,000 for OneLegacy.

Tarrant, who owns C and D Motosports in Canyon Country with her husband, Phil, and their son, Derek, was very involved in fundraising for OneLegacy, which was the organization that guided their 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.”

To view a slideshow of pictures from the walk created by the Cory’s Forever Young team, click here.