Floragraphs are artistic portraits created by using spices, seeds, and other organic materials to cover a digitized photograph of the individual. The final image is astonishingly realistic, recognizable and a fitting memorial to organ, eye and tissue donors everywhere.

“Each image represents a unique story of an individual with a loving family and recipients who are thankful of their gifts of life. One girl, a heart donor, was only two months old, while a 64-year-old father donated his organs, eyes and tissue,” noted Bryan Stewart, chairman of the float organizing committee and vice president of communications for OneLegacy, the non-profit, federally designated organ and tissue recovery agency serving the greater Los Angeles area. “As their families bring these floragraphs to life, they will honor the legacy of their loved ones and all donors: gifts that offer life, hope and health to people in need. The process of creating these portraits, as well as the float’s five-mile journey down Colorado Boulevard, will bring the donation story to life for millions to see.”

One of the floragraphs will depict Julie De Rossi, a free-spirited mother from Houston, Tex. whose interests ranged from racecar driving to interior design. A drunk driver ended her life, but her donated organs and tissue helped some 35 people. Among them was Carson Palmer, the star Cincinnati Bengals quarterback and former Heisman Trophy winner, whose recovery from a crushing knee injury was assisted by the gift of Julie’s tissue.

Also honored will be Johnathan Sim of Renton, Wash., whose work for international relief and development organization World Vision allowed him to do what he loved most: saving the lives of kids around the world in such countries as North Korea, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Zambia. After Johnathan died unexpectedly in 2005, his wife knew that the 33-year-old father of two would have wanted nothing more than to leave a legacy of life for others, which he did by donating his kidneys, liver and heart.

Another floragraph belongs to Cecil Evans, Sr., a Los Angeles man who was known for helping others in need. One day, after viewing a TV show about organ and tissue donation, he decided to sign up as a donor. His decision was reinforced when his son-in-law, who had been on dialysis for years, received a new kidney in 1999. When a massive stroke ended his life at 54, Cecil’s liver saved the life of a 63-year old mother and grandmother.

David Starr of Blue Springs, Mo., a 19-year-old engineering student at the University of Missouri, became an organ and tissue donor after a fatal auto accident on January 26, 1991. His brother Kit, touched by how transplant recipients live their lives so fully, decided to donate one of his kidneys if the opportunity ever arose, which it did in 2003. Kit affirmed, “If an organ donation could have saved David, and someone gave him that chance, just think how different our lives would have been.”

Also remembered on the Donate Life float will be baby Trinity Periera of Banning, Calif., who was only two months old when she died from head injuries on July 7, 2002. Trinity’s heart was successfully transplanted into a three-month old Missouri boy, who is now six. “Although I was unable to see Trinity crawl, walk or go to school,” said her mother Marlin, “she is able to do all those things through someone else’s eyes. She is his little life angel.”

The 2008 Donate Life Rose Parade float features a balloon festival, with four colorful hot air balloons rising 30 feet high above 24 riders whose lives have been saved and renewed by organ, eye, tissue and blood donors. Eight donor family members will walk alongside the float, each holding tether lines connecting them to floragraphs of their loved ones.

Hundreds of individuals, families and organizations touched by donation and transplantation will join the riders and walkers as float participants through the Family Circle Rose Dedication Program, which was founded by Laurie Wolowic, who will walk alongside the float linked to the floragraph of her brother Michael Wolowic of Lake Zurich, Ill. More than 1,000 roses will carry personal messages of love, remembrance and gratitude from around the world, adding an international dimension reflecting the parade’s theme, Passport to the World’s Celebrations.

Coordinated by Donate Life America member OneLegacy, the Donate Life float is supported by more than 50 official partners from across the nation, including organ and tissue recovery organizations, transplant centers, non-profit and for-profit contributors, and transplant recipient organizations. Joining OneLegacy as top-level benefactors are Astellas Pharma US, Inc., sponsor of five float riders and the volunteer decorating team for a third consecutive year; the Family Circle Rose Dedication Program; and the National Donor Memorial and UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing). All float partners encourage parade viewers to become registered organ, eye and tissue donors in their states and donate blood in their communities.