I am pleased to introduce the theme and design of the eighth Donate Life float entry in America’s New Year’s Celebration, the 122nd Rose Parade.

When we design the Donate Life float each year, one thing we always keep in mind is the spirit in which the float was conceived. 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. 2001: Genesis

Gary’s dream became a reality on New Year’s Day 2004 as Donate Life made its Rose Parade debut. That first year and every year since, the float committee uses the parade theme as a starting point for creative development. “A Symphony of Life” and it’s metaphorical bridge brought an emotional dimension to the parade theme, “Music Music Music.” 2004: “A Symphony of Life”

Four years later, the Parade theme “Passport To The World’s Celebrations” led Donate Life to new heights as hot air balloons adorned with portraits of deceased donors rose 30 feet into the air. 2008: “Life Takes Flight”

To the credit of the thousands of volunteers over the years, “Life Takes Flight” captured our first award, the Judges’ Special Trophy for Showmanship and Dramatic Impact. 2008: “Life Takes Flight”

In 2009, the Rose Parade theme “Hats Off to Entertainment” allowed us to present the real-life stars of organ and tissue donation with our breakthrough abstract float design, “Stars of Life”. 2009: “Stars of Life”

Donate Life won a second consecutive award, this time for the prestigious Queen’s Trophy for most effective use of roses in concept, design and execution. 2009: “Stars of Life”

Our third consecutive award-winner, “New Life Rises,” received the Theme Trophy for excellence in presenting the Parade theme, “A Cut Above the Rest.” 2010: “New Life Rises”

Donate Life was truly a “cut above the rest” with its majestic rising phoenix soaring above a replica of the National Donor Memorial… 2010: “New Life Rises”

…with 78 floragraph portraits of deceased donors adorning the tail feathers of the mythical bird. 2010: “New Life Rises”

The Rose Parade: America’s New Year Celebration Through our involvement in the Rose Parade, each year the Donate Life message is seen by more than 30 million TV viewers, one million parade spectators, and tens of millions more in 150 countries worldwide.

But that’s only part of the float campaign’s power to inspire But that’s only part of the float campaign’s power to inspire. The Donate Life Rose Parade float is a truly national campaign with representation from two-thirds of the United States last year. Scores of local media stories follow riders and floragraph families as they make their meaningful pilgrimages to Pasadena. In all, thanks to the efforts of about 60 official partners each year, more than 1,500 positive news stories about the float and its riders have been placed since 2004.

So what will we offer to the media and the world leading up to New Year’s Day 2011? The theme of the 122nd Rose Parade is “Building Dreams, Friendships & Memories”. Needless to say, this is something that the Donate Life mission makes possible each and every day. Through the gift of organ and tissue donation, transplant recipients are able to live their dreams, living donors and recipients build the deepest friendships, and donor families are comforted by the memories and living legacy of their loved ones.

We build dreams, friendships and memories through life’s little moments. Moments like learning to ride a bike…riding your first roller coaster…the rush to collect candy from the pinata…opening presents on the holidays …watching the fireworks with friends…or just taking a walk to remember.

And of course, we can share the laughter, sun, wind, and the visual beauty of flying a kite, the perfect example of an opportunity seized to live a day to the fullest. Through their life-changing experiences, the families of organ and tissue donors, living donors, and recipients of life-saving transplants teach us all a profound lesson: to “Seize the Day” and make the most of every moment to build dreams, friendships and memories with loved ones. It is with this spirit in mind that Donate Life’s eighth Rose Parade float entry calls on tens of millions of viewers and spectators worldwide to…

SEIZE THE DAY! In Donate Life’s eighth Rose Parade float entry, soaring diamond, delta, butterfly, tube and box kites remind us of the exhilaration that comes from seeing them lift off, creating a precious memory shared with family and friends.

The tails of the kites, adorned with dozens of memorial ‘floragraph’ portraits of deceased donors, lift the hopes and lives of transplant recipients into flight. Donor family members from across the country will travel to Pasadena to decorate the images of their loved ones personally.

24 float riders, among them donor family members, living donors and transplant recipients, will forge new friendships through their participation in “America’s Donate Life Celebration.”

They will be led by three walkers who honor all donors and the everyday dreams they make possible through the gift of life.

And thousands of organ, eye and tissue donors nationwide will be memorialized by families, hospitals and transplant centers with dedicated roses, each vial carrying a personal message of love, hope and remembrance.

We hope you will “Seize the Day” with us on New Year’s Day 2011 as for an eighth year we join as a national community to inspire the world to Donate Life.

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