Culver City Resident to Participate in MLK Donate Life Parade

Jo Merriweather will take part in the Donate Life parade on Monday. It will mark the second year riding on the Donate Life’s double Decker bus for the Culver City resident who is awaiting a double lung transplant.

In a telephone interview with Patch, Merriweather said she became involved with Donate Life as an ambassador after taking part in last year’s parade.

“It was just so wonderful to see all the people who had received transplants and those who donated organs,” she said. “I learned so much more about donating and I even signed up to be a donor. I hope one day I’ll be healthy enough to donate.”

For now, though, Merriweather has to wait for a donor herself. She has been on the transplant list since September 2010, has severe COPD and needs a double lung transplant.

“I smoked for 33 years,” Merriweather confessed, “but I was also raised in a smoking environment.”

Since becoming involved with Donate Life, Merrieweather said, “I’m learning why it’s so important to donate. I used to say ‘I don’t want to lose any part of my body for anyone and when it’s my time to die it’s my time to die. I don’t want anyone to donate to me.”

Today, Merriweather said, “That whole take on my life has changed. I really want to donate when I am healthier.”

For now, though, Merriweather is just looking forward to Monday’s parade.

“It was exhilarating last year and I’m really excited for this year.”

The Donate Life float is designed to inspire organ and tissue donation in the African American and multi-cultural communities of Los Angeles. Donate Life joins the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King with a special entry for the sixth year in the 27th annual Kingdom Day Parade.

Under the theme Get Onboard Donate Life, the double Decker bus, adorned with images of recipients and donors and featuring a quote from Dr. King, pays homage to his dream of a global community caring for one another regardless of race, creed or color. Forty-three riders from throughout the Southland representing the “faces of donation” will be on board: transplant recipients, donor family members, living donors, waiting list candidates, healthcare providers, and advocates will unite in celebrating the gift of life.  

Float riders will also include Gloria Rodriguez (Whittier), double lung recipient and founder of the One Breath Foundation;  Indra Michaca (Moreno Valley), who became a liver recipient at age 17; Jésus Nava (West Covina), who received his heart transplant in 2005 and has met the family of his donor, an African-American young man; and Elaine Kirksey-Jones (Fontana), who saved the life of a baby, a total stranger, by donating part of her liver.

The parade begins on Monday at 10 a.m. from Martin Luther King Blvd. and Western Ave., and it proceeds westbound to Crenshaw Avenue, turns south and concludes at Vernon Avenue in front of Leimert Park.

The Donate Life Kingdom Day Parade float is coordinated by OneLegacy, the non-profit organ and tissue recovery agency dedicated to saving lives throughout the seven-county greater Los Angeles area.

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