Rose Parade to feature floats promoting transplant and organ donation
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Key takeaways:
- Two floats in the 2024 Rose Parade will focus on living organ donation.
- Donors, recipients and transplant advocates will be walking with the floats.
An organ procurement organization and a patient support and advocacy group will have floats in the 2024 Tournament of Roses Parade promoting organ donation and to spread awareness about kidney health screening.
“[W]e thought a lot about how to bring kidney health awareness to a global stage, and the Rose Parade made perfect sense,” Rick Zumwalt, PhD, a neuropsychologist and chairperson of the Core Kidney Foundation’s Rose Parade Committee, said in a press release from the Core Kidney Foundation. “Kidney disease is perhaps the most fatal disease that goes undiagnosed and undiscussed in this country, and we need to encourage people to start prioritizing their kidney health.”
The float design of the Core Kidney Foundation was influenced by Anjay Rastogi, MD, PhD, professor and clinical chief of nephrology at UCLA Health. A garden display on the float promotes positivity and hope, and hummingbirds featured on the float are seen as spiritual guides who bring healing to people who are in pain, according to the press release. The created butterflies leading the float are a symbol of goodwill, transformation and rebirth.
“The purple butterflies also symbolize lupus nephritis,” Rastogi told Healio. The tree trunk supporting the inverted kidney represents knowledge and life — symbolizing the continued need for education and kidney health awareness, according to the release. “The red on the trunk represents blood flowing up to the kidney,” Rastogi said. “The red roses symbolize living kidney donors, and the green roses symbolize kidney recipients.”
Dance of life
The theme this year for the OneLegacy Donate Life float is “Woven together: The dance of life,” highlighting the Hopi Butterfly Dance, according to a press release from the group.
The float will feature authentic Hopi dancers and dozens of organ, eye and tissue donors and organ recipients on New Year’s Day.
In 2023, One Legacy won the Tournament of Roses Sweepstakes Award, the highest Tournament of Roses honor, according to the release.
Float designer Charles Meier created the OneLegacy design that honors the culture and traditions of the Hopi and, by extension, all Native Americans, according to the release.
“OneLegacy has produced the Donate Life float for 20 years, and we are excited to celebrate our 21st year with a community and culture for our own Southwest American region,” Tom Mone, chairperson of the OneLegacy Donate Life float committee and chief external affairs officer of OneLegacy, said in the release. “We are especially honored to partner with the Hopi Tribal Council leaders to ensure our float is authentic and representative of their culture.”
“We want to make 2024 as kidney health awareness year,” Rastogi told Healio, “and make a health resolution on Jan. 1 to check and monitor your kidney health. Let’s disrupt the norm.”
References:
CORE Kidney unveils 2024 Rose Parade float - A tribute to the kidney donors who gifted a part of themselves to save a life. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231128933402/en/CORE-Kidney-unveils-2024-Rose-Parade%C2%AE-float---A-tribute-to-the-kidney-donors-who-gifted-a-part-of-themselves-to-save-a-life. Published Nov. 28, 2023. Accessed Dec. 5, 2023.
The OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade float announces its 2024 float theme, “Woven together: The dance of life.” https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230906713517/en/The-OneLegacy-Donate-Life-Rose-Parade%C2%AE-float-announces-its-2024-float-theme-woven-together-the-dance-of-life. Published Sept. 6, 2023. Accessed Dec. 5, 2023.
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Core Kidney Foundation.
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