Roseville Couple Decorates 2015 Donate Life Rose Parade Float in Pasadena with DMV

Roseville residents April and Scott Edwards joined DMV employees and the families of organ and tissue donors, recipients and living donors on December 6 to decorate the 2015 Donate Life Rose Parade float, “The Never-Ending Story,” in Pasadena.

Scott is an associate information systems analyst at the DMV headquarters in Sacramento. Since its debut on New Year’s Day 2004, the Donate Life Rose Parade Float has served as a memorial to organ and tissue donors and a platform for donor families, living donors and transplant recipients to inspire the world to save and heal those in need through the gift of life.

The Donate Life float in the 2015 Rose Parade® features an enormous open book appearing to release 60 butterflies representing the number of lives that can be transformed by a single deceased organ donor ascending above 72 books adorned with floragraph portraits of deceased donors whose legacies are celebrated by their loved ones.

Thirty riders, mostly organ and tissue recipients, will be seated among thousands of dedicated roses bearing personal messages of love, hope and remembrance. Twelve living donors will walk alongside the float that will be seen by 40 million viewers nationwide

Today, more than 124,000 candidates are on the national organ transplant waiting list. Largely due to the rarity of donation opportunities, only about 29,000 organs are transplanted each year. As a result, on average, 18 candidates die each day for lack of a donor.

A single organ donor can save the lives of eight people through organ donation, while a single tissue donor can save and heal 50 others through needed heart valves, corneas, skin, bone, and tendons that mend hearts, prevent or cure blindness, heal burns and save limbs.

For more information: www.donatelifefloat.org