Donor’s Parents and Organ Recipient Will Be Available for Interviews

Float Rendering

Kansas City, KS., Dec. 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Midwest Transplant Network will honor 25-year-old organ donor Zach Mendoza of Wichita, Kansas, in the 2022 Rose Parade. Media personnel can interview members of Mendoza’s family, one of Mendoza’s organ recipients and representatives from Midwest Transplant Network remotely in the days leading up to or after the parade, which will air at 10 a.m. CST on Jan. 2, 2022. Media assets are available here.

Mendoza was in the hospital for one week after suffering a heart-related illness before passing on April 20, 2019. His organs helped four people, including a North Dakota man, Shannon Mohn, whose family has become close to Zach’s family. Mendoza’s parents and Mohn will attend the parade to see Mendoza’s portrait — made entirely from organic materials — displayed on the Donate Life Rose Parade^® float, “Lifting Each Other Up.”

All Rose Parade floats must be covered with flowers or other natural materials, such as leaves, seeds or bark. The Donate Life Rose Parade float each year features numerous floragraphs, which replicate photographs but are made entirely of organic materials, remembering donors from around the country.

About Midwest Transplant Network

Midwest Transplant Network has been connecting lives through organ donation since 1973. As the federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organization (OPO) for Kansas and the western two-thirds of Missouri, Midwest Transplant Network provides services including organ procurement; surgical tissue and eye recovery; laboratory testing and 24-hour rapid response for referrals from hospital partners. Midwest Transplant Network ranks in the top 10% in the country among OPOs, which reflects the organization’s quality, professionalism and excellence in partnerships throughout the region.

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• Float Rendering

CONTACT: Becky Storm Midwest Transplant Network 913-277-8651 bstorm@mwtn.org