R&B artists All-4-One took part in the 20th Annual OneLegacy Donate Life Run/Walk at Azusa Pacific University in June 2022, with California Assemblymember Blanca Rubio. (Courtesy photo)

Many Californians have a tiny pink dot on their driver’s license stating that they wish to be organ donors, but few realize the true import of that declaration. While most assume that organs, eyes, and tissue are the last gifts a human being can bestow at the end of their life, OneLegacy works to build greater awareness of the potential of living donors who can offer vital organs like a kidney or part of a liver while continuing to live full and healthy lives. The organization also works to provide education on diabetes, kidney disease, and heart disease, with an aim to create healthier communities.

E’Tiffany Jones, corporate representative for OneLegacy, oversees the public education department, which among its many functions, presents community engagement events and develops partnerships between the organization and other entities.

“We come into the community because I’m a firm believer that you can’t ask someone to give if you don’t help them live,” she says.

E’Tiffany Jones, corporate representative for OneLegacy, oversees the organization’s public education department, which includes community engagement and developing partnerships between the organization and other entities. (Courtesy photo)

“We know there are social determinants of health, or even access to health care that impacts communities. So, instead of just coming to ask [people] to register to be a donor, we come into that community to …  get that public trust and to provide whatever the need is at that time. We look to educate as well, to make sure that people can make informed decisions about organ, eye, and tissue donations.”

Among OneLegacy’s local outreach efforts are its annual participation in the Rose Parade, with a float that honors living and deceased organ donors and recipients; this year’s entry was recognized with the “Extrarordinaire Award” by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. Notable celebrity partnerships include those with legendary rapper Kurtis Blow, a heart transplant recipient, and national recording artist Philadelphia Freeway, himself a kidney recipient and father of a son who was able to donate his lungs, liver, and kidneys to four individuals when he passed in 2020.

OneLegacy’s entry in the 2025 Tournament of Roses Parade was honored with the “Extraordinaire Award.” The float featured floral tributes to organ donors and recipients, with the theme, “Let Your Life Soar.” (Courtesy photo)

Related Links:

https://www.onelegacy.org/wp/

https://onelegacyfloat.org/si/

https://www.instagram.com/onelegacyinspires

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1gBTzNa9qU

https://kingdomdayparade.org/#:~:text=The%202025%20KINGDOM%20DAY%20PARADE,rescheduled%20to%20February%2017%2C%202025.

The organization’s “Connecting the Dots” event began during the COVID-19 pandemic as an online discussion in 2020. It is now an in-person event held quarterly in local communities to provide information, free haircuts, free produce, and high blood pressure and A1C blood sugar check-ups. In addition, OneLegacy and Charles Drew University are part of a national initiative by HBCU medical schools across the nation that deploy mobile units to Black communities to train students in testing creatinine levels to check kidney functions.

Jones says that while there are misconceptions in the African American community when it comes to organ donation, “A lot of people have distrust in the medical system. The opportunity to educate, engage, and answer questions is really important for us.”

She says that there are currently more than 100,000 patients waiting for organs in the United States, and notes that 90,000 of them are waiting for kidney transplants, a need that can be filled by living donors.

Hip hop recording artist Philadelphia Freeway serves on the OneLegacy Inspires Board and took part in the organization’s annual “Connecting the Dots” event at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall in 2024. (Courtesy photo)

“We have one Ambassador, she’s African American, and her name is Elaine Jones,” she says.

“She’s given her kidney and a piece of her liver altruistically to a young lady who rode on the [Rose Parade] float this year, and she actually gave to her brother years ago. A lot of people in the Black community don’t know that they can give a piece of themselves, one of their organs, particularly a kidney or a liver, and still live and be healthy.”

Jones points out that there are several requirements to become a living donor and that despite the great need, the health of the potential donor is taken into the utmost consideration.

“Some people are ruled out because [the doctors] see something genetic… or [that] years down the line, they may not be healthy if they give part of their organ,” says Jones.

“Managing your own health is essential [for] your being able to live a healthy, productive life, and it’s essential to your being able to become a deceased or living donor when the chance may arise.”

Students from Charles Drew University in Los Angeles participate in administering creatinine testing as part of a national initiative of medical HBCUs working in partnership with OneLegacy and other organ procurement organizations. (Courtesy photo)

Jones, who has been with OneLegacy for five and a half years, moved to Los Angeles from the East Coast to work in film and television, but began advocating for health awareness, organ donation, and transplantation measures when her father had congenital heart failure.

“I went in for the interview … and aligned with the job description of them needing someone to support their production initiatives and events,” she recalls.

“It turned into a wonderful opportunity, and I got to learn much more about the organ procurement space and how it aligned with something that I was personally connected to.

“My father is a heart transplant recipient,” says Jones.

“He got his transplant on Mother’s Day in 2017 and that was my first Mother’s Day, so that was a beautiful gift.”