University of Maryland Shore Regional Health joins The Living Legacy Foundation (The LLF) in dedicating roses for the Rose Parade Donate Life float to honor the generous patients and their families who have given the gifts of life and hope as organ, eye, or tissue donors or donors in spirit. The rose dedicated by UM SRH president and CEO Ken Kozel will accompany several roses dedicated by The LLF as part of the Donate Life float in the Rose Bowl Parade set for January 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. The Donate Life float is the centerpiece of a national effort of more than 50 organizations to reach a broad audience with the simple, life-giving message that organ, eye, and tissue donation saves and heals lives.
This year’s Donate Life float entry, called The Gift of Time, reflects the parade’s theme of Making a Difference by celebrating the power of kindness and the generous acts of people throughout the world, who are making a positive difference in the lives of others. Perhaps no act is more emblematic of this than becoming an organ or tissue donor: A single organ donor can save the lives of up to eight people and improve the lives of as many as 75 more by donating corneas and tissue. Donors save the lives of grateful recipients and help families heal. It is the community of generous donors, including donors from UM SRH, that save thousands of lives through transplantation each year.
On the Gift of Time float, the monumental Aztec calendar will draw the eye to the center of the float, where 44 donors will be honored with floragraphs. This ancient calendar is a reminder of the enduring, life-saving power of the generosity of donors and families. Alongside the float, eight living donors and recipients will carry baskets of fruit and flowers in celebration of the renewed life they have shared with one another and the world. The beauty, richness, and potential of life is represented by the vivid flock of macaws perched over the lush floral canopies, ready to take flight.
In Maryland, about 3,800 people are waiting for a life-saving transplant. Nationwide, that number is almost 120,000. UM Shore Regional Health supports The Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland in its mission to facilitate donation and transplantation and to educate the public about the life-saving power of donation and transplantation.
For more information about organ, eye, and tissue donation and to register as a donor, please visit www.donatelifemaryland.org or www.thellf.org.
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