Freeman Honors Organ Donation On Donate Life Rose Parade Float
JOPLIN — On New Year’s Day 2018, the Donate Life Rose Parade float titled “The Gift of Time” included a dedication garden made of roses with handwritten dedications by hospital chief executive officers across the country.
Paula F. Baker, Freeman Health System president and chief executive officer, signed a flower vial that was a part of the float that honored and remembered those who gave the gift of life. The note reads: “Freeman Health System honors the patients, families and staff whose commitment to others makes the gift of life possible.”
Debuting in 2004, the Donate Life Rose Parade float has become the world’s most visible campaign to encourage organ and tissue donation. According to Donate Life America, one person can save up to eight lives through organ donation and 50 lives through tissue donation. More than 6,000 lives are saved annually through living kidney and liver donation.
“Donation is powerful and important,” said Baker. “We want to honor all organ, eye and tissue donors, the families and their recipients whose lives were forever changed, thanks to the gift of life.”
Thousands of vials were attached to the Donate Life Rose Parade float, which featured a colorful caravan with 44 portrait floragraphs that honored deceased organ donors. Transplant recipients and living donors walked alongside. The 2018 Rose Parade aired live at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 1, on a number of broadcast and cable channels.