OVERLAND PARK, Kan., — For 22 years, the OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade® float has inspired people across the country to save and enhance lives with the powerful message of organ, eye and tissue donation. The 2025 Rose Parade® theme, “Best Day Ever,” celebrates life’s best moments – those unexpected times that bring a smile, warm our hearts and fill us with joy. While for organ 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 to see their loved ones live on in others. For transplant recipients, organ donation gives them bittersweet feelings of happiness for receiving the gift of life, gratitude to their donor and grief for the donor family’s loss.
AdventHealth Shawnee Mission and AdventHealth South Overland Park are proud to partner with Midwest Transplant Network in dedicating a rose vial that will be placed on the OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade® float, “Let Your Life Soar.” The float features a vibrant scene inspired by the beloved Japanese celebration of Children’s Day. Colorful koi nobori (flying fish flags), or windsocks shaped like fish, fly overhead. Streamers bear a family crest, followed by the koi nobori in a sequence representing father, mother and children in order of birth. The scales of the fish are memorial floral portraits – floragraphs – of organ donor heroes who gave the gift of life. The windsocks soar over a garden of flowering trees, stone lanterns and a beautiful bridge.
All Rose Parade® floats must be covered with flowers or other natural materials, such as leaves, seeds or bark. The OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade® float features numerous floragraphs, which replicate photographs but are made entirely of organic materials, remembering donor heroes from across the country.
Donor Hero Floragraph Honoree
OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade® float co-sponsor Midwest Transplant Network’s floragraph on the 2025 float will honor organ donor Joe Hecht of Sturgeon, Missouri.
Joe was 38, a son, husband and father who died after a senseless act of gun violence in July 2020. He donated his kidneys at MU Health Care in Columbia, Mo., saving the lives of two people. Growing up, his mother, Sheila Hecht, served in the Navy. They lived in Florida and Washington, experiencing the world along the way. Baseball, working on cars and “California Love” by Tupac were his vibe. He enjoyed a life of adventure with his wife, Melissa, taking trips to the Amazon rainforest and Machu Picchu in Peru. Joe loved being outside with their young daughters, Elena and Isabelle.
“We are proud of Joe’s legacy as an organ donor. We always talk about daddy. He’s a hero. We are thankful to be invited to represent Joe at the Rose Parade®. It’ll be a wonderful memory for our family,” said Melissa Hecht.
The Hechts will travel to Pasadena, Calif., for parade events hosted by OneLegacy, the organ procurement organization of southern California.
Rose Vial Dedications
The OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade® float includes individual roses encased in vials with unique messages from some of Midwest Transplant Network’s hospital and community partners. AdventHealth Shawnee Mission and AdventHealth South Overland Park work closely with Midwest Transplant Network to facilitate organ, eye and tissue donation, and are honored to dedicate a rose vial to donor heroes.
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About AdventHealth in Kansas City
With a sacred mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ, AdventHealth is a connected system of care for every stage of life and health. A focus on whole-person health and commitment to caring for the body, mind and spirit unify the system's nearly 50 hospital campuses and hundreds of care sites in diverse markets throughout almost a dozen states. AdventHealth in Kansas City includes AdventHealth Shawnee Mission in Merriam, KS; Advent Health Prairie Star; AdventHealth South Overland Park, AdventHealth College Boulevard, AdventHealth Centra Care and AdventHealth Medical Group. Visit AdventHealthKC.com for more information.
About Midwest Transplant Network
Midwest Transplant Network has been connecting lives in Kansas and western Missouri since 1973. As a federally certified, not-for-profit organ procurement organization, MTN works with organ, eye and tissue donors, their families, hospitals, and other professional partners to extend legacies, provide hope and give life. More than 7,000 organ donors from MTN’s service area have contributed to over 32,000 lifesaving transplants. Additionally, more than 23,000 tissue donors have given gifts, enabling nearly 250,000 life-enhancing tissue transplants for burn victims, cancer survivors, individuals with sports-related injuries and more.
In 1972, donor heroes from Midwest Transplant Network’s service area saved the lives of 12 people with an organ transplant. In 2023, that number was 988, illustrating the thoughtfulness of people in Kansas and western Missouri; the strong support from MTN’s hospital and community partners; and MTN’s commitment to continual improvement and saving more lives.