    |
|
|
23 Float Riders to Represent Organ, Tissue, and Blood Donors' 'Giving From The Heart' in the 2007 Rose Parade® LOS ANGELES, CA, October 2, 2006 – They gave the ultimate gift – the gift of life – and now their good nature will encourage millions worldwide to follow their example as they ride the Donate Life float down Colorado Boulevard in this year’s Tournament of Roses Parade®. Twenty-three living donors and donor family members from 11 states and Canada will ride on Donate Life’s float, Giving From The Heart, to inspire people to save lives as organ, tissue, and blood donors. The 2007 Rose Parade signifies an important first for the Donate Life float as all riders will be living donors or donor family members, with the float’s theme bringing to life the good nature of all organ, tissue and blood donors. “We’re proud to enter a float that honors all donors in such a meaningful way,” said Bryan Stewart, chairman of the Donate Life Rose Parade Float organizing committee and director of communications for OneLegacy, the non-profit, federally designated organ and tissue recovery agency serving the greater Los Angeles area. “When the Tournament of Roses announced that the 2007 Rose Parade theme would be Our Good Nature, we knew that organ, tissue and blood donors would personify the spirit of giving so that others can live. Every gift of life is a gift from the heart, as the experiences of our 23 riders demonstrate.” The riders hail from Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Ontario, Canada. Donate Life’s first international rider is joined by the first blood donation representative and the first priest. The contingent includes three Latinos, two African Americans, two Asians, and one Native American, and they range in age from 19 to 63. Eight donated their own organs to save family members, while 14 donated the organs and tissues of deceased family members to help people they did not know and might never meet. Shannon Payne of Damascus, Ark., a “miracle baby” conceived despite his mother Kathy's longtime battle with lupus, came to her rescue by his kidney when hers failed, while Rachel Lentz of Gates Mills, Ohio left college for a quarter during her sophomore year to give a kidney to her mother Elizabeth. For Erica Rangel-Báez of Arleta, Calif., that her nine-year-old son Frankie Hernandez saved the lives of five children as an organ donor has helped her recover from his untimely death from an aneurysm. Likewise, Fannie C. Brown of Buffalo, N.Y. was comforted to help someone else live through the gift of organs from her 21-year-old son Jeremy. Susan Giess of Palmetto, Ga. is pleased that more than 40 recipients in 11 states benefited from her daughter Mandy’s gift of tissues following a fatal automobile accident. And since donating blood five years ago to a godson diagnosed with leukemia, and again a year later to a friend undergoing surgery, Dan Sandoval of Ontario, Calif. has donated blood on a regular basis. “There are dozens of people who are grateful to be alive because they received hearts, livers, kidneys, lungs, corneas, skin, bone and blood from our riders and the loved ones they honor through their ride,” said Stewart. “Hopefully many of the 92,000 people nationwide waiting for life-saving organ transplants and millions of people in need of tissue and blood donations each year will benefit from the generosity of millions of parade viewers.”. Among the giving group are those who have experienced both sides of the donation equation. For Bill Dawson in Oceanside, Calif., not only did he donate his daughter’s tissue, but his sister and sister-in-law also became donors, and his brother-in-law is currently waiting on the transplant list. For Marvin Reznik in Wheeling, Ill., it meant donating his son’s organs, only to find out later that Marvin himself would need a liver transplant. For Kelli Jantz of Centennial, Colo., 20 years as a transplant coordinator helped her understand the value of donating her son’s organs. And for Donna Warren in Palo Alto, Calif., one son became a tissue donor while another received a heart transplant. Reinforcing the emotional aspect of donation is the return of the Donate Life float’s Family Circle rose dedication program, which allows any individual, family or organization touched by donation and transplantation to dedicate a rose on the Donate Life float. Dedicated roses will be placed in the heart-shaped “Family Circle Garden” at the front of Giving From The Heart. Each rose carries the name of the person and a special message, which makes every rose in the garden a unique gift. A limited number of spaces are available; roses can be reserved now by visiting the Family Circle web page. The 2007 Donate Life Rose Parade float marks the fourth appearance of the donation and transplant community in the Parade. Giving From The Heart is laden with symbolism: eight gift-wrapped presents represent the lives that can be saved by a single organ donor; 50 bouquets signify the lives that can be saved or enhanced by a single tissue donor; and the red ribbon’s three loops represent the lives that can be touched through a single blood donation. In addition, the tags adorning the presents are written in English, Spanish and Chinese. And Donate Life will again salute the importance of the Hispanic community’s contribution to organ, tissue and blood donation by presenting the float’s logo both in English and in Spanish, “Done Vida”. Nearly 60 organizations across the country support the riders and the float. Returning benefactors include OneLegacy, UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) National Donor Memorial, and Astellas Pharma US, Inc., which is sponsoring five float riders for a second consecutive year. Other float partners include a broad range of organ, tissue, and blood donation and transplantation services and foundations. The 118th Rose Parade will take place on Monday, January 1, 2007 at 8:00 am PST featuring spirited marching bands from throughout the world, majestic floral floats and high-stepping equestrian units. For further information call Rivian Bell, JDI Communications, (213) 612-4927 or Bryan Stewart, (213) 229-5650. |