Gift of Hope and Steger Community Come Together to Dedicate Park in Honor of 12-Year-Old Organ and Tissue Donor

What: Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network, along with Steger Mayor Kenneth A. Peterson Jr., dozens of families, friends, local dignitaries from the Steger community will gather at 3501 Hopkins St., Steger, Ill. to formally dedicate the Lorenzo Garcia Park of Hope.

Featuring a retaining wall with commemorative bricks, marble benches, and a variety of trees, shrubs and flowering plants, the park pays tribute to 12-year-old Lorenzo Garcia, whose life was cut tragically short after he left a playground by bicycle and was hit by car in 2015.

Lorenzo, who idolized super heroes during his brief life, became a hero in his own right when his family made the courageous decision to donate his tissue and organs. And that action, in turn, inspired his close friends and an entire town to rally around the creation of a park to serve as a sanctuary for community members to reflect on the lives of those they have loved and lost.

When: 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.

August 26, 2017

Where: Lorenzo Garcia Park of Hope

3501 Hopkins St., Steger, Ill.

Quick Facts:

• 4,930 people in Illinois are waiting for an organ as of May 31, 2017[1]
• Only 60 percent of adults 18 and older in Illinois are registered to be donors
• 300 people will die waiting for a transplant this year
• Every 10 minutes, a new person is added to the national transplant waiting list
• One donor can save or enhance the lives of more than 25 people through organ and tissue donation.

[1] Based on data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network