A Lehigh County native’s image will be featured on a float set to appear in the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day.
Krysta Hankee died in 2007 after collapsing while exercising in a New York City gym. The 22-year-old Northwestern Lehigh High School graduate was an organ donor; her organs helped save five lives.
As a memorial, Hankee’s family and friends are creating a “floragraph” of her for the Donate Life float, a news release says. The floragraph, based on a photograph of Hankee, is made with seeds, dried flowers and other organic material.
Hankee, a native of Heidelberg Township, graduated from high school in 2003 and in 2007 earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and foreign business from New York University, according to a memorial website. At the time of her death, she was working as an assistant project manager for a New York real estate company, the site says.
This year’s Donate Life float will include 80 memorial floragraphs of donors, the release says. In addition, 30 transplant recipients and 12 living donors are slated to ride on or walk beside the float during the parade.
The float has appeared in the annual Pasadena, Calif., parade since 2004, with the goal of raising awareness about organ and tissue donation. In addition to her organs, Hankee donated her corneas, which helped restore vision for two people.
Hankee’s parents, Bill and Chris, will be among nearly 100 people who plan to gather Sunday at Union Evangelical Luthern Church in North Whitehall Township to put finishing touches on the floragraph, the release says. State Rep. Gary Day is expected to attend the event, which will run from 1 to 3 p.m. at the 550 Route 873 church.
The Hankees are slated to leave for California on Dec. 27, where they’ll have an opportunity to work on the float before the parade, the release says. The Gift of Life Donor Program, a nonprofit organ donation program that serves eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, is sponsoring the family’s trip.
