November 18, 2022
Colorado Man Remembered on Donate Life Rose Parade® Float
Colorado Man Remembered in Memorial Portrait on 2023 Donate Life Rose Parade® Float
DENVER, 11/18/2022–Organ, eye and tissue donor, Tanner Denton of Grand Junction, Colo. will represent the Centennial State as a floragraph honoree on the 2023 Donate Life Rose Parade® float on January 2. The Donate Life community is celebrating its 20th year of participation in the iconic Rose Parade New Year’s Day celebrations, which have made the Donate Life Rose Parade float the world’s most visible campaign to inspire donation. Denton’s floragraph will be among 44 floral memorial portraits of organ, eye and tissue donors from across the country that will adorn the float.
“The incredible impacts of donation and transplantation are profound, and the effects spread far and wide,” said Jennifer Prinz, president and CEO of Donor Alliance, which is sponsoring Denton’s floragraph. Donor Alliance is the federally designated, non-profit organ procurement organization serving Colorado and most of Wyoming. “With participants from across the country, the float is a visual representation of the lives touched by organ, eye and tissue donation. It’s an honor to pay tribute to Tanner and his legacy this year, and we are incredibly grateful to his family for sharing their story. With nearly 1,500 people in Colorado waiting for a lifesaving transplant, we are hopeful that Tanner’s story will inspire Coloradans and people across the country to register to be donors.”
The 2023 Donate Life Rose Parade float, Lifting Each Other Up, celebrates the power of organ, eye and tissue donation, with donors and recipients working together to support one another. A spectacular Chinese street dragon is the centerpiece of the float. The colorful dragon will be winding through flowering trees, lanterns and fans, and be emblazoned with the floragraphs, which represent those, like Denton, who have given the gift of life. Ahead of the parade, Denton’s family will gather at the Grand Junction Rockies Stocker Stadium to put the finishing touches on his floragraph at an event that will honor his life and legacy.
Denton was best known in his hometown of Grand Junction, Colo. as a baseball player, but because of his tremendously big heart and desire to always lend a helping hand, that was just a small part of why he was loved by so many. He was just 23 when he passed away in a tragic accident in August 2016. In the days and months that followed Denton’s death, his legacy of helping others continued through organ, eye and tissue donation. He helped save the lives of two people through kidney donation. His corneas helped a woman in Ireland restore her sight, and he enabled another young man to play baseball again after receiving some of his tissue.
The nationally televised Rose Parade will start at 8 a.m. on January 2, 2023 and be broadcast live in the U.S. by broadcast partners ABC, NBC, HGTV, Hallmark Channel, Univision and more. For more information about the 2023 Donate Life Rose Parade float, visit DonateLifeFloat.org.
Colorado residents can sign up to be donors by saying Yes each time they get or renew a driver license or state ID, or anytime at www.DonateLifeColorado.org.
About Donor Alliance
Donor Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. As the organ and tissue procurement agency for Colorado and most of Wyoming, Donor Alliance serves more than 6.2 million residents and more than 120 hospitals. Donor Alliance adheres to the highest medical, regulatory and ethical standards, and meets every performance standard. By respectfully working with the families of organ and tissue donors, maintaining partnerships with hospitals, educating residents on the life-saving benefits of donation and inspiring them to sign up on the state’s donor registry, Donor Alliance is able to save lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. Colorado and Wyoming boast some of the highest rates of donor registration in the country, which directly translates to more lives saved and healed through organ and tissue transplantation. Donor Alliance is one of 57 federally designated organizations of its kind in the United States. For more information visit DonorAlliance.org or the Donate Life Colorado or Donate Life Wyoming Facebook pages.