Donate Life’s Inspiring “Courage to Hope” Rose Parade® Float Unveiled at Special Ceremony Featuring Transplant Recipients, Living Donors and Donor Families

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Grateful organ, eye and tissue transplant recipients joined living donors, deceased donor families and other local officials to help unveil the 2022 Donate Life Rose Parade^® float, which will travel down Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena on New Year’s Day. Celebrating 19 years of participation in the Rose Parade and other Tournament of Roses’ events, the Donate Life float is produced by OneLegacy and is the world’s most visible campaign to inspire organ, eye and tissue donation and share the important message that donation saves lives.

"We are excited to once again be part of the Tournament of Rose Parade and to have the opportunity to celebrate and share the inspiring message of the power of organ, eye and tissue donation,” said Tom Mone, CEO of OneLegacy, the nonprofit organ, eye and tissue recovery organization serving seven Southern California counties and lead sponsor of the Donate Life float. “Nationally there are approximately 107,000 people waiting to receive a lifesaving heart, liver, lung, kidney or pancreas transplant; but there are simply not enough donors to meet the growing need. Our float helps call attention to this message and will hopefully motivate individuals from around the world to register to be a donor.”

Among those joining Mone at the unveiling event were the President of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association Robert Miller and Robert Gonzales, mayor of the city of Azusa, which OneLegacy will call home when its new offices and transplant recovery center open in 2022. The six transplant recipients who spoke at the unveiling event – Gerald Freeny from Altadena, Ava Kaufman from Los Angeles, Charles Pruitt from Bakersfield, Rene Sorrentino from Placentia, Lynda Trachtman from Fullerton, and Susan Van Campen from Grand Terrace -- will be among 19 recipients and living donors who will be riding or walking next to the float on New Year’s Day. In addition, seven local floragraph honorees and their families were recognized as part of this special event.

The 2022 Donate Life float, “Courage to Hope,” will feature the majestic, winged Lion of Venice from Italy’s Piazza San Marco or Saint Mark’s Square, set amidst the Venetian Gothic architecture of the Doge’s Palace or Palazzo Ducale and Venice’s quintessential gondolas and flowing canals.

The float will also feature stylized Venetian colonnades adorned with memorial floral portraits – or “floragraphs” -- honoring the gift of life and hope given by donors. Six local donors, sponsored by OneLegacy, will be honored on the 2022 Donate Life float with floral portraits or floragraphs. They are Gabriela Hernandez from Huntington Beach, Eileen Limon from Downey, Kenneth “Cody” Howadamus from Norco, Tracy Lee Graves and Stephen Jackson Steiner from Glendora and Killian Benjamin Wise from Van Nuys.

Traditional gondolas will carry organ, eye and tissue recipients, as they continue sailing in their life journey, thanks to their donors’ gifts. A lush dedication garden features individually dedicated roses will complete the beautiful Venetian scene, along with blue and white waves, representing the flowing Venice canals.

The Donate Life Rose Parade float is produced by OneLegacy and is made possible thanks to dozens of sponsoring donation, transplant, healthcare, and family care organizations and individuals who help make donation and transplantation possible across the country. The float inspires viewers to help the over one million people worldwide in need of organ, eye or tissue transplants each year. Register today to become an organ, eye or tissue donor by visiting DonateLife.net.

About OneLegacy

OneLegacy is the nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in seven counties in Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Kern. It serves more than 200 hospitals, 10 transplant centers, a diverse population of 20 million donors and families across the region and waiting recipients across the country. Becoming an eye, organ or tissue donor is easy and can be done by registering online at donateLIFEcalifornia.org/OneLegacy or by “checking YES” at your local DMV. For more information, visit OneLegacy.org