Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency (LAORA) will recognize Miami Children’s Hospital (MCH) and honor organ donors and their families on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2007, during an Unsung Heroes Celebration and Tree of Life Dedication Ceremony at 9:30 a.m. at the Miami Children’s Hospital Foundation Special Events Center, 3000 SW 62 Avenue, Miami.

Miami Children’s Hospital organ donors and their families will also be honored through a “Tree of Life” monument which is cast in bronze and whose “leaves” are engraved with the names of organ donors. The “Tree of Life” will be unveiled and dedicated in their memory, and both donor families and transplant recipients will be present to extend their gratitude to the MCH staff for their caring support of donation. “We are really glad to be able to have the Tree of Life Monument here to serve as a place where our donor families can remember their loved one and feel proud of the role they play in helping to save another’s life,” said Bing Wood, Director of PICU & ECMO Services at Miami Children’s Hospital.
 
"This is our opportunity to acknowledge Miami Children’s Hospital for demonstrating a high level of commitment and collaboration with organ and tissue donation processes, as well as the donors and their families for their lifesaving gifts," said David Levi, M.D., LAORA’s Medical Director.  LAORA and its certified organ procurement coordinators will recognize Miami Children’s Hospital and its Unsung Heroes --- medical staff, specifically Pediatric Intensive Care, Operating Room, Emergency Room, Pastoral Care, and Social Services units. In 2006, collaborative efforts between LAORA and Miami Children’s Hospital made it possible for six lives to be saved through vital organ transplants resulting in MCH achieving the 75% organ donation conversion rate goal set forth by the United States Department of Health & Human Services, Health Resources & Services Administration.  Many more lives were improved through tissue and eye donation.   
 
About MCH
Founded in 1950, Miami Children’s Hospital is the only licensed specialty hospital for children in South Florida. Ranked by Child magazine among the best children’s hospitals in the nation, Miami Children's Hospital offers medical care and services for children from birth to age 21. It has also been designated an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession’s most prestigious institutional honor. The 275-bed medical facility has expertise in all aspects of pediatric medicine.
 
About LAORA
Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency is the federally designated non-profit organ procurement organization for South Florida. As a full service organ recovery agency working cooperatively with donor hospitals, regional transplant centers, tissue banks and the United Network for Organ Sharing, LAORA ensures equitable distribution of organs and tissues for transplant. In addition, LAORA provides public and professional donation education throughout South Florida.