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The New Life Rises float is Entry #10 in the 121st Rose Parade.

Ronald Snipes is one of 76 people to be represented in the floragraphs on the 2010 Donate Life Rose Parade float, “New Life Rises”. This opportunity is being made possible though the kindness of a sponsorship from Sallop Insurance Agency.

The floral images of this special group of organ, eye, and tissue donors will take center stage on the seventh Donate Life float entry in the 121st Rose Parade. The float features a phoenix, the mythical symbol of life, coming out of the ashes of death and rising from a bed of flames 30 feet into the sky. The Donate Life phoenix represents those who give life in their passing and the people whose lives are renewed through transplantation. The floragraphs will be integrated into the bird’s tail feathers.

“The families of these donors have grieved the loss of their loved ones, yet they will celebrate their lives when the Donate Life float and its floragraphs journey down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day,” said Bryan Stewart, chairman of the Donate Life float committee and vice president of communications at OneLegacy, the nonprofit organ and tissue recovery organization serving the greater Los Angeles area. “We know from past experience that the process of decorating the floragraphs can be healing for the donors’ family members, and we look forward to working with them as these beautiful portraits are decorated in December.”

As 85 million Americans have already done, Ronald and several of the other honorees had enrolled in their respective state organ and tissue donor registries prior to death. Over 297,000 people have signed up on the South Carolina Organ and Tissue Donor Registry since it launched on December 23, 2008.

Doris, Ronald’s wife, remarks, “I think it was a wonderful decision. What a better way to show God’s love and to give life than to give your organs to somebody? Without that, they wouldn’t be able to live.” She adds, “I think it’s important for people to do this. If I had to make that decision at that time, it would have been a lot more difficult, because you’re going through so much emotion. So when he made the decision, I didn’t have to make it. I just went along with his wishes.”

The honorable Tracy Edge, a S.C. House Representative, who was instrumental in supporting the Donor Registry into law, was awarded the Donate Life South Carolina 2009 S.C. Legislator of the Year Award during the Dec. 11 event.