DURANT, Iowa–For 20 years, the Donate Life Float at the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California has honored organ donors, both living and posthumous, as well as transplant recipients. This year, Emily Bohnsack, a Durant resident who became an organ donor after her death in a car accident in 2010, will have a floragraph placed on the float to honor her donation and the awareness that her family has brought to organ donation.
A retired teacher with 35 years of experience in Durant, Suzy Bohnsack, Emily Bohnsack’s mother, and the rest of her family have worked hard to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation. Each year, they help to put on the Greenout Game, one home basketball game each year where they sell shirts and host a silent auction to raise money for the Iowa Donor Network. They also invite a different speaker to talk about organ donation and have members of the basketball team share current statistics about organ donation. The Greenout Game alternates every other year between the Wilton rivalry game and another school, helping inform people from throughout the region about organ donation. Over the years, the Greenout Games have raised thousands of dollars to fund the work of the Iowa Donor Network.
This year, another volunteer with the Iowa Donor Network nominated Emily Bohnsack for a place on the float and Donate Life selected her, along with one other organ donor from Iowa, to honor with floragraphs. Before Emily Bohnsack’s floragraph went to California for finishing touches and to get added to the float, the Bohnsack family got to see it in Grinnell Iowa. “Oh my gosh, you can tell they put so much work into it, it’s like it’s their baby,” said Suzy Bohnsack in awe.
Dec. 30, Suzy Bohnsack, her husband, their daughter, and their son-in-law flew to California to see the Rose Parade and to participate in a number of activities for the families of the organ donors and recipients honored on the float. These included having lunch with float designers, attending a new year’s eve party, and getting to watch the parade from a special seating area.
A spectacular creation, this year’s Lifting Each Other Up float featured a Chinese dragon decorated with 44 memorial floragraphs, including the one honoring Emily Bohnsack. People who made live organ donations held up the dragon, and many transplant recipients road on the float as well. Many roses donated in memory of those impacted by organ donation as well as a bridge with an inspiring message in Chinese characters graced the float as well, making it a sight to behold.
An experience unlike any Suzy Bohnsack had ever had before, she felt glad, “for people to keep remembering her and honoring her and to keep her memory alive and to encourage organ donation.”
She also hoped that the float would bring even more awareness to the importance of organ donation. “I had no idea what the impact an organ donor had until this impacted us personally,” Suzy Bohnsack shared.
