Gadsden Regional will play a tiny part in the 125th Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif.
Chief Executive Officer Stephen Pennington signed a dedication that will be placed on the Donate Life float in the annual New Year’s Day parade.
The float, themed “Light Up the World,” will include riders who have received organ transplants, living donors and memorials to deceased donors.
The float will also include a personal tribute from Gadsden Regional written by Pennington.
Others on hand for the signing included Chief Operating Officer Paul Theriot, Chief Nursing Officer Donna Nicholson and Chief Financial Officer Michael Cotton, all registered organ donors.
“The need for organ donation is critical here in Alabama and all across the country,” Pennington, also a registered donor, said.
“Gadsden Regional is proud to support the life-saving and healing benefits of organ donation.”
Today, there are more than 120,000 people on the organ transplant list in the U.S. and some 3,800 of those are on Alabama’s own list.
Every day, 18 people die because an organ does not become available in time.
For more information about organ donation or to join the 110 million registered donors, please visit www.alabamaorgancenter.org.