Shriners Hospitals for Children to Participate in 131st Rose Parade

For the tenth consecutive year, Shriners Hospitals for Children® will participate in the 131st Rose Parade presented by Honda. Eight representatives will ride on the float entitled Hope Knows No Limits. The float expresses the hope that can be seen in every aspect of the work and the mission of Shriners Hospitals for Children.

The float depicts one result of the presence of hope: joy and acceptance – seen through the carefree exuberance of children sharing a day at the playground. Hope gives them the freedom to enjoy their childhood. Our mascot, Fezzy®, marks his eighth appearance on our Rose Parade floats by joining the children in the playground – the one who is part of the float design, and four patients whose lives are a showcase for hope every day. Madelyn and Cristian, our National Patient Ambassadors, are joined by patients and local residents, Monserrath and Gianna. Also riding on the float are Imperial Potentate Jeff Sowder and First Lady Cheryl, and Imperial Chaplain Bobby Simmons and his wife Nancy.

Shriners’ entry, Hope Knows No Limits, celebrates the joyful, carefree spirit of childhood that is born of hope. For our patients, hope guides everything – from the ability to enjoy and participate in what are typically everyday experiences, to believing in the future and the ability to contribute to society, from endless resilience and perseverance, and even being accepted and welcomed. Hope is a strong current underlying everything we do at Shriners Hospitals for Children – including offering care for complex medical conditions, conducting research to discover answers and create new and better treatments, and offering medical education opportunities to share knowledge that extends our reach to even more children.

The parade’s theme of The Power of Hope is illustrated throughout the float. In fact, even its title, Hope Knows No Limits, can be seen as a description of the parade theme. Hope is present in the joyful abandon of the characters of the float itself, and in the hearts and minds of the patients riding on the float, who demonstrate the power and the limitless nature of hope in their lives every day, as they go on to dream big and achieve more than even they can imagine. Shriners Hospitals for Children are places where hope and healing meet, and lives are changed.

The Shriners Hospitals for Children float will be on display for pre-judging, and float riders will be available for media interviews starting at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, December 30, 2019, at Phoenix Decorating Co., Rose Float Plaza South, 5400 Irwindale Ave., Irwindale, California.

About Shriners Hospitals for Children

Shriners Hospitals for Children is a health care system with locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Our staff is dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, conducting innovative research, and offering outstanding educational programs for medical professionals. Children up to age 18 with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care regardless of the families’ ability to pay. All services are provided in a compassionate, family-centered environment. For more information, please visit shrinershospitalsforchildren.org.