It S My Privilege to Stand Before You Today on Behalf of the Donate Life Rose Parade Float

2013 Donate Life Rose Parade Float “Journeys of the Heart” Script to Accompany Float Unveiling PowerPoint Presentation Rev. 6/18/12

This presentation may be preceded by the 3-minute Donate Life Rose Parade Float “History” Video. Please request a copy by emailing Luis Ramirez at [email protected].

Donate Life’s entry in the Rose Parade is not just a float…it is the totality of what the float makes possible. It is America’s Donate Life Celebration… (CLICK)

A national campaign with representation from two-thirds of the United States last year. Scores of national, regional and local media stories follow riders and floragraph families as they make their meaningful pilgrimages to Pasadena to usher in the New Year. (CLICK)

In all, thanks to the efforts of more than 100 official sponsors each year, more than 2,700 positive news stories about the float and its riders have been placed since 2004, and each year our call to action is seen by more than 30 million TV viewers, 800,000 parade spectators, and tens of millions more in 150 countries worldwide. (CLICK)

The Donate Life Rose Parade Float began with one man’s vision. In April of 2001, lung recipient Gary Foxen, with the ever-present support of his wife Lois, wrote to the chairman of OneLegacy, the organ and tissue recovery agency serving the greater Los Angeles area. In the letter, he shared his dream of thanking donor families and celebrating the gift of life in the Rose Parade, the third most- watched entertainment event in the world. (CLICK) Gary’s dream became a reality on New Year’s Day 2004 as Donate Life made its Rose Parade debut. Each year, the float committee has used the parade theme as a starting point to create a story that anyone can relate to, that represents the experiences of the participants it features, and that achieves a balance between celebration and reverence. Year after year the spirit of celebration has been ever more evident. (CLICK)

Donation strengthens families… (CLICK) and transforms lives (even in the rain). (CLICK)

Our best nature is our capacity to give… (CLICK) and lift each other up. (CLICK)

Organ donors are stars… (CLICK) who leave a soaring legacy. (CLICK)

Make the most of every day… (CLICK) because time is so very precious. (CLICK)

So how will we inspire our nation and the world this year? As always, we began with the theme of the parade, which for the 124rd Rose Parade is “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” Needless to say, the combination of our tenth anniversary year and a parade theme derived from a Dr. Seuss book inspired us to create a design as unique and dramatic as the journey we have taken together in creating “America’s Donate Life Celebration.” (CLICK)

The places we go range from the highest of highs… (CLICK) to the lowest of lows… (CLICK) and every point in between. With all of this in mind, our 2013 campaign will revolve around this story: (CLICK)

The ups and downs of life teach us many lessons, with those experienced through organ and tissue donation and transplantation being among the most profound. (CLICK)

Donor families pass through grief on the way to peace and remembrance; living donors step forward to give love and life to others; and transplant recipients courageously move forward from harrowing illness to health and gratitude. (CLICK)

Though our paths vary from the places we start, we are all connected on our... (CLICK)

Journeys of the Heart: a continuous, looping path through a magical, heart-filled world that will invite viewers by the tens of millions to journey with us and consider organ, eye and tissue donation. (CLICK)

The journey begins with a 200-foot-long, heart-shaped pathway that peaks with intertwined red and purple hearts representing the love and courage that define humanity at its best. (CLICK)

The path is lined with 72 memorial “floragraph” portraits of deceased donors who are remembered every step of the way. (CLICK)

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The float deck features… (CLICK)

…a collection of colorful hearts… (CLICK) …representing the new life made possible… (CLICK)

…by transplantation… (CLICK)

…grounded by a reverent dedication garden filled with roses bearing personal messages honoring those who make the gift of life possible. (CLICK)

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Bringing the float to life are 30 riders whose own journeys as transplant recipients, living donors and family members of deceased organ, eye and tissue donors encompass the highs and lows that life has to offer. (CLICK)

Leading up to New Year’s Day 2013, we will invite Americans by the tens of millions to take a journey with us and consider organ, eye and tissue donation. We hope every member of our community will consider joining, and contributing to, “America’s Donate Life Celebration.” (END)

Follow the float’s journey from construction to decorating to Parade Day at visit www.donatelifefloat.org. We’ll see you in Pasadena!