St. Francis coming up roses

Grand Island Independent | Sarah Schultz
With an artist's rendering of the Donate Life "Light Up the World" Rose Parade float in front of him, Tiff Varney of Arnold talks about his son, who was an organ donor, Monday morning during a press conference to promote the importance of organ and tissue donation. (Independent/Barrett Stinson)

A little piece of Grand Island will be included on the Donate Life Rose Bowl Parade float this year.

Dan McElligott, St. Francis Medical Center president, signed a slip of paper attached to a flower vile Monday morning. The message on the paper reads “St. Francis Medical Center graciously honors the patients, families and staff who make the gift of life possible.”

The water vile, one of eight from Nebraska, was given to Kyle Herber, the executive director of Nebraska Organ Recovery System. It will hold a rose and be included with others from across the U.S. on the Donate Life “Light Up the World” float on New Year’s Day. The float promotes organ donation while recognizing organ donors, recipients and their families, Herber said.

There will be 30 riders on the float, including a man from Lincoln who donated his son’s organs after he was killed in an accident in the mid-1980s. He later received a kidney himself, Herber said.
______________________________________________________ 
"You have the power to SAVE lives." 
To register as a donor TODAY
In California: 
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 
Outside California: 
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

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