Taylor Hooton Foundation

Foundation History

Founded: 2004

The Taylor Hooton Foundation for Fighting Steroid Abuse is a non-profit corporation incorporated in Washington, DC. Corporate headquarters are in McKinney, TX. The IRS has formally approved the THF for 501(c) 3 tax-exempt status.

The THF was formed in memory of Taylor E. Hooton, a 17-year old high school athlete from Plano, TX.  Taylor took his own life on July 15, 2003 as a result of the abuse of anabolic steroids. This Foundation was founded by the parents, family and friends of Taylor after his death when the founders became aware of the magnitude of a growing problem among high school athletes across the country--the illegal use and abuse of anabolic steroids as an appearance and performance enhancement drug in addition to the abuse of other APEDs by our kids. They discovered that this is a serious problem among young athletes and non-athletes, and learned that young people and their parents are generally ignorant of either the prevalence of or the real dangers of these powerful drugs.

Founder

Hooton Family

Along with his family, Don Hooton formed the Taylor Hooton Foundation. He currently serves as the organization’s president and sits on the Board of Directors along with a group of distinguished volunteers. Don has spoken directly to over 75,000 kids, parents, coaches, doctors, elite athletes, and others around the country. He has spoken to Congress on three occasions, met with governors and legislators from a number of states, and other leaders that are interested in tackling this issue. In addition, he has told Taylor’s Story on a significant number of national (and international) television and radio shows in addition to major newspapers and magazines.

For his work in this field, Don was named the Texas Sports Personality of the Year by the Dallas Morning News in 2005.  In 2009, he was named the 15th Most Powerful Sports Person in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex by the Dallas Observer and was presented with the Distinguised Service Award by the United States Sports Academy.