Donate Life Rose Parade 2020

This past December, ten volunteers from the Transplant Division of Thermo Fisher Scientific joined hundreds of donor family members, transplant recipients, and transplant professionals in the effort to decorate the Donate Life Rose Parade float. A celebration of the theme "Light in the Darkness," the float was designed to highlight the power of unity, light and love in the style of Diwali, the Southeast Asian Festival of Lights.

The beautiful design took over 10,000 hours to complete and incorporated floragraphs of deceased donors, which were decorated in their memory by their family and friends. The float also featured a floragraph of Dr. Paul Terasaki, sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific in honor of his enormous contributions to the science of transplantation.

The Thermo Fisher Scientific volunteers were delighted to see that Dr. Terasaki would be honored at the parade. "Having worked for One Lambda/Thermo Fisher Scientific for over 21 years, it was an emotional, humbling and touching experience that I will never forget," said Marissa Beltran-Lemus, Scientist II in R&D. "I am definitely proud to have been lucky enough to be part of the Dr. Paul Terasaki legacy." Mark Coffey, Sr. Manager of Strategic Marketing, was surprised to discover that several volunteers who were neither TDX employees nor transplant professionals knew of Dr. Terasaki's name and his work to advance transplantation.

The float was awarded the Judges Award in recognition of its outstanding design and dramatic impact. Given that the parade broadcast is viewed annually by over 50 million people, the float's beautiful expression of light and hope may have reached many people who have never before considered signing up to be organ donors.

For Marissa, the opportunity to shed some "Light in the Darkness" was also a chance to share Thermo Fisher's mission with the world. "Our Mission, [which is] to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer, definitely connects with the theme," said Marissa. "[The] many lives touched by donation embody hope just as our products embody hope by improving the lives of transplant patients worldwide."

In addition to Marissa and Mark, the Thermo Fisher Scientific team of volunteers included Zahra Shayegh, Quality Specialist II; Zhifang Wang, Software Staff Engineer; MarcShannon Milligan, Product Support Specialist II; Thao Dinh, R&D Scientist II; Sylva Keshishian, Software Engineer III; Melody Velazquez, Customer Service Representative II; Susan Rojo, Manufacturing Sciences Supervisor; and Louise Lerminiaux, Business Transformation Lead.

For more information about the float, please see the official Donate Life Rose Parade float site.