Families send roses to decorate Donate Life float

NWI - The times 

Vicki Olds, left, of Crown Point, became an organ donor because she wanted to help someone else, and that someone else turned out to be her best friend's daughter, Tanisha Basham, right, of University Park, Ill. Olds' late daughter, Nikki, also became an organ donor and her heart was a 100 percent match for Basham.

MUNSTER — For a fifth year, families gathered with Community Healthcare System staff members, Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network representatives and Indiana Lions Eye Bank officials to honor the area’s organ, eye and tissue donors.

The annual Donate Life Rose Dedication Ceremony was held last month at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts to formally send off roses that will decorate the Donate Life float for the 2016 Rose Parade.

Each of the 33 roses sponsored by Community Hospital in Munster, St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart now carry tags with messages of love on their vials from the donor families.

“Each of you has a story to tell and this is a safe place to tell it,” said Jana Lacera, rose ceremony coordinator and director of Bioethics for Community Hospital. “Everyone here understands what you are going through after losing a loved one.  Continue reading_________________________________________________________
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from Donate Life Organ and Tissue Donation Blog℠ http://ift.tt/1OJM1Vm