Contact: Office of Public Affairs
2415 First Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 657–6437 | dmvpublicaffairs@dmv.ca.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 14, 2021
Sacramento – The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and Donate Life California will honor DMV team member Jennifer Quattrocchi, a multi-organ transplant recipient, by featuring her on its 2022 Donate Life Rose Parade Float, Courage to Hope. This is the first time a living organ recipient from the DMV has been selected to ride on the float during the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day in Pasadena.
“This year we are privileged to honor one of our own. Jennifer’s life was saved not once, but twice, by an organ donor and she is a living testament to the importance of lifesaving organ and tissue donations” stated DMV Chief Deputy Director Cris Rojas.
Quattrocchi, a Sacramento resident who works at the DMV headquarters, has received two separate organ transplants. Her transplant journey began when she was 11 years old, after doctors diagnosed her with liver cirrhosis. In 2018, Quattrocchi received a new liver donated by the family of an 11-year-old child. Then, a few months after her transplant, Quattrocchi was told her kidneys were failing, and she would need to be put on the kidney transplant list. Luckily, in 2021, her brother, John Quattrocchi Jr., was a match and became her living kidney donor.
The 2022 Donate Life Rose Parade float embodies the courage shown by donor families, living donors and waiting recipients. The float, Courage of Hope, depicts the winged lion of Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark’s Square) in Venice, Italy. The majestic lion holds a book that represents the knowledge that both donor families and grateful recipients share about the importance of saying “YES” to donation.
The DMV is proud to help save lives alongside Donate Life California. Since 2006, more than 17.5 million Californians have registered to become organ, eye and tissue donors, 98 percent of whom checked “YES” at a DMV field office. On average, 150 people are added to the nation’s organ transplant waiting list each day – one every 10 minutes. To learn more about how organ donors save lives, check Donate Life California’s FAQs on organ donation.
Currently, there are more than 100,000 men, women, and children in the United States waiting for lifesaving organs and 20 percent – more than 20,000 – are based in California. To register to become an organ, eye and tissue donor visit donatelife.net/register/.
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