For millions of us, the Rose Parade has been must TV viewing as we rest and relax after the holidays and New Year's eve celebrations. Since 2004 the Rose Parade has taken on special meaning for our transplant community with the entry of the Donate Life float.
Lung transplant recipient Gary Foxen suggested the idea of a Donate Life Float entry in the Rose Parade. In 1999, suffering from severe emphysema, Gary Foxen received a lung transplant. A couple years later, Gary wrote the letter originally suggesting the entry of a Donate Life-themed float in the Rose Parade as "a way to repay society for this wonderful gift" of life. Last June, Gary was honored with the Coalition on Donation’s James M. Wolf Award for his "inspiration and commitment to increasing organ and tissue donation." Gary is a rider on this year's float.
The Donate Life float and its 23 riders represent millions of people touched by organ and tissue donation, including donor families, living donors, transplant recipients and transplant candidates.
News from Transplant Living2006 Donate Life Rose Parade Float Features 'Life Transformed' by Organ and Tissue Donation
Los Angeles, CA -- A nationwide partnership of organizations, united to inspire all people to "Donate Life: through organ and tissue donation, unveiled its 2006 Rose Parade float design June 30, 2005 at the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations (AOPO) annual meeting in Los Angeles.
The 2006 Donate Life Rose Parade float, themed Life Transformed, will mark the third appearance of organ donors, donor family members and transplant recipients in America's New Year Celebration. The float's 22 riders--whose lives, families and communities have undergone a physical, emotional and spiritual transformation through being touched by organ and tissue donation--will be surrounded by new life that has sprung forth from the shelter of a fallen tree. The riders will hail from communities throughout the nation, including California, Illinois, New York, Ohio and Oklahoma.
The Donate Life float adds an emotional dimension to the Tournament of Roses Parade theme, It's Magical. "A life touched by organ and tissue donation and transplantation is a life transformed," said Bryan Stewart, chairman of the Donate Life Rose Parade Float organizing committee and director of communications for OneLegacy. "While organ and tissue transplantation helps hundreds of thousands of people regain their health each year, giving and receiving the gift of life has a profound--many would say magical--impact on the lives, families and communities it touches." Full Press Release
For more information:
Official Float Web Site
Official Tournament of Roses Web Site
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