fbpx
Sign Up Today
Latest News

Tag Archives: Rose Parade

02 Nov

By

in
Press Release

Navy Veteran to be Honored as a Tissue and Cornea Donor Hero in the Donate Life Rose Parade® Experience During the 2021 Tournament of Roses Entertainment Special

SACRAMENTO, Calif., October 22, 2020 – Francis “Frank” Cox, a devoted family man who dedicated his life to community service, was selected by Donate Life California as the 2021 Donate Life Rose Parade® Experience floragraph honoree. On October 29th, 2020, Frank’s family will put the finishing touches on a floral portrait of his likeness, known as a floragraph, during a special unveiling ceremony with Donate Life California at the Sacramento headquarters of the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) at 10:00 am. While the 2021 Rose Parade® was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Frank will be featured during the Tournament of Roses’ Entertainment Special, airing nationally the morning of January 1st, 2021.

Frank, a Navy veteran, enjoyed camping, spending time in his motorhome, and tailgating at the ski resorts every weekend as his family enjoyed the snow. He was also happy to barbeque just about anything at his family’s frequent pool parties. His love of family was very apparent and his passion for over 20 years was volunteering at Shriner’s Hospitals for Children. Frank was the 29th person to join the El Kalah Shrine Clown Unit where he was lovingly known as “Potsy,” and performed for the children and their families. Frank became a tissue and cornea donor in the winter of 1988 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“My father was a devoted family man who instilled in us the value of community service and helping out those in need,” said Delia Bolinder, Frank’s daughter and a DMV employee. “When he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, he was worried that he would no longer be eligible to be a donor. Thankfully, he was still able to give the gift of sight and tissue to several recipients in need. I know my father would be so honored to be featured in the Donate Life Rose Parade Experience this year.”

The DMV and Donate Life California became state-authorized partners in 2006. Since then, more than 16.5 million Californians have signed up to save lives by registering as organ, eye and tissue donors – 95 percent of whom checked “YES!” at the DMV.

“Frank Cox’s decision to register as an organ, eye and tissue donor illustrates the importance of the partnership between DMV and Donate Life California,” said DMV Chief Deputy Director Kathleen Webb. “We are thankful that Donate Life California continues to honor DMV families during the annual Rose Parade celebrations.”

The Donate Life Rose Parade® Experience will be featured in the Tournament of Roses’ Entertainment Special. This nationally televised celebration is the Tournament’s new campaign that allows sponsors to create and display floral installations. The Donate Life Rose Parade® floral installation will feature over 20 sculptures made of roses and incorporating donor hero floragraphs. Additionally, it will be accompanied by various elements honoring Donation Healthcare Heroes amid a field of dedicated roses.

“While the Rose Parade® celebrations will look different this year, we are gratified and excited that Donate Life is the Tournament of Roses only live floral production which will include the floragraph that celebrates and honors Frank’s memory,” said Tom Mone, President of the Donate Life California Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of OneLegacy. “Frank’s legacy will live on forever because of his decision to be a donor, save and heal lives and inspire us all to register as a donor through the DMV.”

Each day, 22 people in the U.S. die waiting because the organ they needed did not become available in time. Organs needed for transplant are heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas or intestine. There are nearly 110,000 people waiting for a lifesaving transplant.

Tissue transplants, meanwhile, save and heal lives. Tissues for transplant include cornea, skin, heart valves, bone tissue, tendons, veins, ligaments and cartilage. More than a million tissue transplants occur each year, and the surgical need for tissue has been steadily rising. Corneal transplants restore sight to nearly 50,000 people each year.

Fast Facts:

  • In 2019, organ, eye and tissue donors in California saved more than 4,400 lives, and improved thousands more with eye and tissue donation.
  • 22 people across the country die each day awaiting life-saving organ transplants.
  • Over 21,500 people (about 19 percent of the national list) who wait for a life-saving organ transplant live in California.

About the 2021 Donate Life Rose Parade® Experience

While the traditional Rose Parade festivities have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Donate Life Rose Parade® Experience will be participating in the Tournament of Roses’ floral celebration this year. Frank, along with other donors, will be featured in the 2021 Donate Life Rose Parade® Experience’s floral installation, which incorporates floragraphs to honor organ, eye and tissue donors, along with other elements honoring Donation Healthcare Heroes. This installation will be featured in the Tournament of Roses’ Entertainment Special, airing on television nationally on January 1st, 2021 at 8:00am PST.

 

About Donate Life California:

The Donate Life California Organ & Tissue Donor Registry is the nonprofit, state-authorized organ, eye and tissue donor registry. As a public service, the registry assures that all personal information is kept confidential and stored in a secure database, accessible only to authorized organ and tissue recovery personnel at the time of an actual donation opportunity. The registry is administered by Donate Life California and California’s four nonprofit, federally designated organ recovery organizations: Donor Network West, Lifesharing, OneLegacy and Sierra Donor Services. For more information about Donate Life California; how organ, eye and tissue donation saves and improves lives; and to sign up, please visit www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org or in Spanish at www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org.

More Fast Facts from Donate Life California:

  • All major religions support or permit organ, eye and tissue donation.
  • You are never too old or sick to register as an organ, eye and tissue donor.
  • Do not rule yourself out! People with all medical conditions are potential donors.

Please visit Donate Life California’s Stories of Hope web page to read inspiring stories about organ and tissue donors and recipients from around the state.

12 Oct

By

in
DMV Partnership Rose Parade

Meet Our 2018 Rose Parade Honoree

Each year, to thank the California Department of Motor Vehicles for their ongoing support of organ, eye and tissue donation, Donate Life California selects a Rose Parade Honoree who is a donor with ties to the DMV.

Our honoree is included on the annual Donate Life Rose Parade Float, which is sponsored by dozens of Donate Life related organizations from around the nation.

We’re happy to share with you that this year’s Rose Parade Honoree by Donate Life California will be tissue donor Steve Sepulveda, whose sister-in-law Adriana Murrufo-Burton works at the Pomona Field Office.

Honoring Our Heroes at the Rose Parade

Steve will be one of 44 donors honored on the 2019 Donate Life Rose Parade Float. The float’s theme, Rhythm of the Heart, honors music as the universal language that unites and heals people from different cultures and walks of life. Organ recipients, living donors and donor families will find this theme very close to their hearts.

This year marks the 16th year that the Donate Life Rose Parade Float continues its mission to save and heal lives by sharing the gift of life and delivering the message of organ, eye and tissue donation to the world. Families of deceased donors are honored to see their loved ones’ floral images highlighted as part of the float. Living donors and recipients bring the float to life by riding or walking beside the float. This year’s parade theme, The Melody of Life, celebrates the power of music – the universal language – in bringing us together.

The power of music can bring healing to donors and recipients alike, as well as hope to millions of people who will watch the Donate Life float on January 1, 2019, as it rides through the streets of Pasadena.

Learn About This Year’s Rose Parade Honoree

Steve Sepulveda was born January 10, 1969, in El Paso TX. He was raised in and lived in Los Angeles until his passing on July 7, 2013 at the age of 44. Steve was a great son, a wonderful father and an amazing husband. He left behind two daughters, his wife, his mother and two siblings.

As a kid, Steve had a lot of energy and loved to play sports. He played high school football and basketball and attended Humboldt University after graduating. Steve and his spouse were school friends while in elementary school and remained friends through high school. It wasn’t until after college that they began dating. He was married for 17 years and had two  beautiful young daughters.

Steve lost his father in 1987 and became a support system for his younger sibling and mother. He enjoyed family time, golf, camping, taking his girls to the parks and pools, and dates with his wife.

Steve passed from an enlarged heart and his family likes to tell people “Steve had a big heart.” This showed in his decision to become a donor. He was the type of person that if you needed help with anything, he would do what he could to be of assistance in any way. Steve would feel comfort in knowing his donation helped others. His family knows he is no longer with them, but in a way, he is still part of this world.

Saying Thank You to Our DMV Partners

Over the past years, Donate Life California has honored a variety of DMV employees, family members, and others who gave the gift of life. The mission of organ, eye and tissue donation is close to the heart of DMV employees.

Each year, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles signs up hundreds of thousands of new registered organ, eye and tissue donors. In total, registrations by the DMV make up over 95% of the entire registry.

It is not exaggerating to say that we would not be able to do the life-saving work of organ, eye and tissue donation without our ongoing partnership with the California DMV.

Next time you are in the DMV take a quick second to say thank you to the DMV employees who are doing this work each day.

Join us in Honoring Steve and All Our Heroes on New Year’s Day!

We hope you’ll turn on the television and tune in on New Year’s morning to the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. And keep your eye out for the Donate Life Rose Parade Float, our honoree Steve, and the many donors and recipients who will be celebrating the “Rhythm of the Heart.”

23 Jan

By

in
News Rose Parade

Donate Life California & California DMV Honor Donors at this Year’s Rose Parade

Over the past few months, Donate Life California partnered up with the California Department of Motor Vehicles to support the Donate Life Rose Parade as we honor donors with 44 organ and tissue donors honored on the float, on top of living donors and transplants recipients.

Donate Life California would like to thank the California DMV for their effort in these activities and their continued commitment to helping close the gap of those who are waiting for lifesaving transplants and those who able to receive them.

Donate Life Rose Parade Float California DMV Collaboration

Making A Difference With Our DMV Partners

This year the Rose Parade selected the theme of “Making a Difference”. This fits in perfectly with the work of Donate Life California and our partnership with the California DMV. From, this the Donate Life Rose Parade Float selected the theme of the “Gift of Time”.

In November, we had almost forty DMV staff and their guests join us to decorate the Donate Life Rose Parade Float. They worked to begin covering the float with some of the thousands of flowers and even more seeds, spices, and other natural materials that would cover the float that was 55 feet long, 14 feet wide and 26 feet high.

Donate Life Rose Parade Float California DMV Collaboration

As We Honor Donors

Each year, Donate Life Californi honors a donor with ties to the DMV with a Floragraph on the float. This year, we honored Bonnie Walker, whose daughter, Tanya McClain, is the field office manager at the San Clemente office. Bonnie Walker served in the Navy where she met her husband and raised four children in Southern California. In, 2003, Bonnie Walker passed away and was a cornea donor. All four of her children, now adults, were able to join us in honoring her at the Rose Parade and the events surrounding it. Her Floragraph was placed on the Aztec calendar on the float, which Tanya and her son decorated earlier in the year. Learn more about this year’s honoree here.Donate Life Rose Parade Float California DMV Collaboration

Before the float was unveiled, leadership from the DMV, including Director Shimoto, many of the deputy directors and regional managers, joined the Donate Life California Board of Directors to place roses on the float to honor donors frmo across California and those they personally knew. This is an annual event where Donate Life California can say thank you to the DMV and their leadership for continuing to support the Gift of Time and California’s organ & tissue donor registry.

Donate Life Rose Parade Float California DMV Collaboration

After over 10,000 hours of volunteer work, including those of DMV staff, the float was ready to go.

When the float was unveiled at the judging event the emotions were heavy in the air as we saw all 44 floragraphs revealed including Donate Life California and the DMV’s honoree Bonnie Walker. The crowd cheered, and tears were shed.

On New Year’s Day, the float traveled down Colorado Blvd in Pasadena where it was announced it won the “Theme Award”, for being the float to best honor of the theme of “Making a Difference”.

This was Donate Life’s fifteenth year as a part of the Rose Parade and we wouldn’t be able to do it or achieve our overall mission, without the support of DMV staff from all over the state.

Stay tuned for news about the 2019 Donate Life Rose Parade Float where will with continue to honor donors and support us in our efforts to give the Gift of Time!