Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center honors organ and Tissue donors with dedicated roses to be place on Donate Life float in 2013 rose parade®

OneLegacy | LAC+USC Medical Center

Donate Life Rose Ceremony Welcomed Donors’ Family Members at LAC+USC

Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, in collaboration with OneLegacy, the organ and tissue recovery organization serving the seven-county greater Los Angeles area, honored  organ and tissue donors and their families at a Donate Life Rose Ceremony held on November 3rd.

The Donate Life Rose Ceremony welcomed families of deceased donors served by LAC+USC. At the event, staff from LAC+USC thanked  each family for their loved ones’ life-saving and healing gifts of organs and tissue by presenting them with a dedicated rose to be placed on the Donate Life float in the 2013 Rose Parade. The families wrote personal messages tagged onto flower vials to be placed in a rose dedication garden on the Donate Life’s float.

The Donate Life Rose Ceremony featured several guest speakers, among them Leiauna Anderson, a transplant recipient, Reg Green a donor family member, and LAC+USC staff. During the event, each donor family was handed two rose vials with a special tag where the family wrote a personal message to their loved one. One vial is kept by the family as a memento, while the other will make its journey to Pasadena, where the vial, carrying a fresh rose, will be ceremonially placed on the Donate Life float a few days before the 124rd Rose Parade, which will be held on January 1, 2013.

“We are deeply grateful to donors and their families for their generous decision to help others in need,” said Bryan Stewart, Donate Life Float Committee chairman and OneLegacy’s vice president of communications. “It is our privilege to present hospitals and families an opportunity to honor donors in such a meaningful way as part of this national celebration of the gift of life.”

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Photo Credit:  Luis Ramirez, OneLegacy

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