AdventHealth Shawnee Mission to Be Represented in 2024 Rose Parade®

KANSAS CITY, Kan., January 01, 2024 — For more than 20 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 2024 Rose Parade® theme, “Celebrating a World of Music: The Universal Language,” illustrates how in a world of different cultures, beliefs, hopes and dreams, one language unites us all — music.

AdventHealth Shawnee Mission was proud to have partnered with Midwest Transplant Network in dedicating a rose vial that was featured on the OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade float, “Woven Together,” which featured a butterfly dancer with traditionally woven baskets full of corn and other fruits from Hopi culture. The Butterfly Dance is a ceremonial, social dance for young Hopi people to celebrate the corn harvest.

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 each year features numerous “floragraphs,” which replicate photographs but are made entirely of organic materials, remembering donors from around the country.

OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade Float co-sponsor Midwest Transplant Network’s floragraph on the 2024 float honored 14-year-old organ, eye and tissue donor Jayme Sue Louque of Olathe, Kansas.

In addition to Louque’s floragraph and many others in memory of other donor heroes from around the country, the float featured many individual roses with unique messages from some of Midwest Transplant Network’s hospital and community partners. AdventHealth Shawnee Mission works closely with Midwest Transplant Network to facilitate organ, eye and tissue donation, and we were honored to dedicate a rose vial to donor heroes.

“Being a part of the OneLegacy Donate Life Rose Parade float is an honor and a privilege,” said Lisa Hays, MD, chief medical officer at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission. “It is our chance to say thank you to all the donor heroes who have provided more than 28,000 lifesaving transplants since Midwest Transplant Network’s inception.”

The Rose Parade took place the morning of Jan. 1, 2024, on ABC, NBC and Univision.

About Advent Health 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; AdventHealth Lenexa; AdventHealth South Overland Park; 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 for more than 50 years. More than 7,500 organ donors from Midwest Transplant Network’s donor service area have contributed to over 28,000 lifesaving transplants since Midwest Transplant Network’s inception in 1972. Additionally, more than 24,000 tissue donors have given gifts in this timeframe, enabling more than 2 million life-enhancing tissue transplants for burn victims, cancer survivors, individuals with sports-related injuries and more.

Organ donor heroes from Midwest Transplant Network’s service area saved the lives of 13 people with organ transplants in 1972. In 2022, that number was 972, illustrating the thoughtfulness of people in Kansas and western Missouri; the strong support from Midwest Transplant Network’s hospital and community partners; and Midwest Transplant Network’s commitment to continual improvement and saving more lives. For more information, visit mwtn.org.