The Float Will Celebrate the Power of Organ,
Eye and Tissue Donation, Featuring Dozens of Organ, Eye and
Tissue Donors, Recipients and Living Donors on New Year’s
Day
OneLegacy announced today the theme of their 2025 OneLegacy
Donate Life Rose Parade® float. The float will join dozens of
floats, marching bands, and equestrian units participating in the
iconic 136th Rose Parade® on New Year's Day in Pasadena,
California.
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The 2025 OneLegacy Donate Life Rose
Parade float's theme, "Let Your Life Soar" is inspired by the
beloved Japanese celebration of Children's Day and features
traditional koinobori, or flying fish windsocks. (Graphic:
OneLegacy)
Ed Morales, the current Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association
President, has chosen the 2025 Rose Parade theme, "Best Day
Ever!" This theme is a celebration of life's best moments –
those unexpected times that bring a smile, warm our hearts, and
fill us with joy. While for donor families, losing a loved one
represents one of the most difficult moments of their lives, organ,
eye, and tissue donation brings a ray of hope. It allows them to
see their loved ones live on in others, creating a legacy that
continues in transplant recipients.
The OneLegacy Let Your Life Soar float showcases the
Japanese culture and the tradition of Children's Day, or Kodomo no
Hi in Japan. Children's Day occurs during Golden Week, a collection
of four national holidays celebrated within seven days and one of
Japan's three busiest holiday seasons. Families raise their
carp-shaped windsocks in Japan, which have been flying for
generations. In Japan, the koi fish represent strength, courage,
and health. These same attributes define not only those who chose
to give the gift of life, but also their families and their
recipients. Koi fish are also believed to represent perseverance,
stemming from an ancient legend of a golden carp that swam
upstream. The entire donation and transplantation community
exemplifies perseverance, from the families that carry on the
legacy of their loved ones, to the medical community that
tirelessly dedicate their lives to donation and transplantation.
The 2025 OneLegacy Donate Life Float honors tradition, family, and
love within the donation and transplantation community.
The 2025 OneLegacy Donate Life float, Let Your Life Soar,
features a vibrant scene inspired by the beloved Japanese
celebration of Children's Day. Colorful Koi No Bori (Flying Fish
Flags), or windsocks shaped like fish, fly overhead. Streamers bear
the family crest, followed by Koi No Bori in a sequence
representing father, mother, and children in order of birth. On the
OneLegacy float, the koi fish scales will highlight memorial floral
portraits or floragraphs, representing donors who gave the gift of
life. The windsocks will soar over a garden of flowering trees
featuring stone lanterns and a beautiful bridge. Organ, eye, and
tissue recipients will ride on the float, sharing their gratitude
for their donors' gift of life. Living donors will walk alongside
the float, showing the power of living donation.
Award-winning float designer Charles Meier created the beautiful
design that honors this quintessential Japanese celebration. The
team at Fiesta Parade Floats, led by Tim Estes, will bring the
float to life under the direction of the OneLegacy Donate Life
float's new crew chief, Travis Woodward. Every year, more than a
thousand volunteers spend countless hours decorating the float with
organic materials from October through December, with the goal of
finishing it for its journey down the streets of Pasadena on New
Year's Day.
"We look forward to showcasing the imagery and message of this
traditional Japanese celebration and sharing the remarkable and
meaningful stories of donors, who have chosen to make their lives
'soar' by giving transplant recipients lifesaving gifts, so that
their lives may soar again," said Tom Mone, Chair of the OneLegacy
Donate Life float's committee and Chief External Affairs Officer of
OneLegacy, the nonprofit organ, eye, and tissue recovery
organization serving the greater Los Angeles area. "This is a
tradition for the organ donation and transplantation community that
is in its 22nd year. We are excited to share our beautiful float
with the world and honor the power of organ, eye, and tissue
donation while celebrating the Japanese culture on the 2025 Rose
Parade on New Year's Day."
The OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade float is produced by
OneLegacy and made possible thanks to dozens of donation,
transplantation, healthcare, and family care organizations from
across the country, who join OneLegacy to sponsor our float every
year, and individuals who help make donation and transplantation
possible.
As the world's most visible campaign to inspire organ, eye, and
tissue donation, the OneLegacy Donate Life float in the Rose
Parade, presented by Honda, is a powerful reminder of the impact
each individual can make. By registering today to become an organ,
eye, or tissue donor, you can potentially save or enhance the lives
of over one million people in need of transplants each year. Your
decision to donate is a testament to the power of community and the
value we place on life.
Visit www.onelegacy.org/register or Registerme.org for those
outside of California to register as a donor and help save and heal
lives.
About OneLegacy
OneLegacy is the nonprofit organization dedicated to saving
lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in seven counties in
Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San
Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Kern. It serves more than
200 hospitals, 9 transplant centers, a diverse population of 20
million donors and families across the region and waiting
recipients across the country. Becoming an eye, organ or tissue
donor is easy and can be done by registering online at
donateLIFEcalifornia.org/OneLegacy or by “checking YES” at your
local DMV. For more information, visit OneLegacy.org
About the Pasadena Tournament of Roses® and Rose
Parade® presented by Honda
The Pasadena Tournament of Roses® is a volunteer organization
that hosts America’s New Year Celebration® with the Rose Parade®
presented by Honda, the Rose Bowl Game® presented by Prudential and
a variety of accompanying events. The Association’s 935 Members
supply more than 80,000 volunteer hours, which will drive the
success of the 136th Rose Parade, themed “Best Day Ever!,” on
Wednesday, January 1, 2025, followed by the College Football
Playoff Quarterfinal at the 111th Rose Bowl Game presented by
Prudential. Visit www.tournamentofroses.com, like us on Facebook
and follow us on Instagram and YouTube.
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Tania Llavaneras (213) 503-9285 Tllavaneras@onelegacy.org