MECHANICSBURG — David Money was 23 years old when he died in a car accident.
Through his gift of tissue donation, Money was able to help save and enhance the lives of over 100 people.
Money is one of 21 people to be represented in “floragraphs” (artistic floral portraits) on The 2021 Donate Life Rose Parade floral sculpture, “Community of Life.”
Community Tissue Services is sponsoring a local floragraph to honor Money’s contributions to the lives of others.
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 realistic, recognizable and a fitting memorial to donors everywhere. Each honoree shares the same legacy, saving and healing lives as an organ, eye or tissue donor.
Money’s is one of the portraits sent to families nationwide for completion in their hometowns.
His mother, Carmela Wiant of Mechanicsburg, gathered with family at Goshen Township Memorial Park shelterhouse in Mechanicsburg on Tuesday to place final touches on Money’s floragraph.
Wiant said, “We miss David every day. His final gift touched so many lives, which brings us comfort. He saved and enhanced the lives of over 100 individuals, including twins burned in a fire, a person who avoided amputation, injured athletes and patients suffering from severe back pain.”
Even though there will not be a Rose Bowl Parade in 2021 due to the pandemic, Donate Life will be part of the Tournament of Roses 2021 TV special, “The Rose Parade’s New Year Celebration presented by Honda,” including live-to-tape musical and marching band performances, heartwarming segments related to the Rose Parade, celebrity guest appearances, special Rose Bowl game football highlights, equestrians, spectacular floats from years past and a behind-the-scenes look into the making of a float.
The Rose Parade TV special will air on various broadcast networks on Jan. 1, 2021.
The Donate Life community is preparing a tribute for this legendary event, with a floral sculpture that honors donors and donation health care professionals. This sculpture will be available to view at the Tournament House in Pasadena on New Year’s Day. Award-winning float designer Charles Meier created the sculpture’s design and Fiesta Parade Floats will produce it this year.
The 2021 Donate Life Rose Parade floral sculpture, “Community of Life,” features a vibrant floral honeycomb built by bees, sharing the important message that we are stronger when we work together as a community.
Twenty-one hexagonal memorial portraits of donors are interwoven within the honeycomb, symbolizing the life donors give through organ, eye and tissue donation. Much like the families and donors who have given the gift of life, bees epitomize a harmonious community that helps and benefits others.
Just like busy bees, donation health care professionals devote every single day to make donation and transplantation possible; and the names of six health care professionals will be featured within the floral sculpture.
According to Community Tissue Services, there are more than 109,000 men, women and children in the U.S. awaiting a lifesaving organ transplant. Thousands more will require tissue and cornea transplants to restore mobility and sight.
One organ and tissue donor can save and heal the lives of more than 125 people.
Ohioans may register their decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor in the following ways:
– Online at DonateLifeOhio.org.
– At the Bureau of Motor Vehicles when you obtain or renew your driver’s license or state ID card.
– Completing a paper enrollment form.
______
About Community Tissue Services
Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, Community Tissue Services is a nonprofit quality, ethical provider of services to recipients, donor families, medical communities, and community partners through the respectful recovery, processing and distribution of tissue grafts. Community Tissue Services, an accredited member of the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB), is one of the largest nonprofit tissue banks in the United States and operates tissue centers in California, Texas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Idaho and Ohio. In 2019, Community Tissue Services distributed more than 750,000 tissue allografts to over 5,000 hospitals, physicians and surgeons.
For more information on Community Tissue Services, visit www.communitytissue.org. To view the heartfelt stories of tissue donors and recipients, and learn how you can become involved, visit Community Tissue Services at www.125lives.org.
