EL PASO -- More than 20 families of organ donors gathered for an emotional dedication ceremony Tuesday in the lobby of Thomason Hospital's intensive-care unit.

Photographs of organ donors were affixed to a wall around a large painted red heart, and each family took turns receiving a green ribbon that was attached to a photograph of their deceased relatives.

"It's bittersweet coming here," said Annie Williams, who fought back tears as she gazed on the photo of her late father, Juan De Leon.

"This is where we lost him, and where we made the decision to help others to live with his organs. What they've done here is awesome."

Williams and her mother, Ana De Leon, who flew in from San Antonio, were joined at the ceremony by El Paso relatives Elizabeth Telles and her 10-year-old son, Brian Telles.

In addition to his late great-grandfather (De Leon), Brian Telles had a friend, Brandon Garcia, who was among the organ donors honored Tuesday.

"The hope is that this wall will also help future families in crisis when they are faced with the decision to donate," said Pam Silvestri, spokeswoman for Dallas-based South west Transplant Alliance.

Beth Dalton traveled from Silver City with sons Ty Dalton-Archuleta, 8, and Levi Dalton-Archuleta, 8, to honor her older son, Devin Dalton, 23, who died in 2005.

"What they did here is a very good thing. It will help families to decide in favor of organ donation when they see these pictures of organ donors," Dalton said. "Five people are alive today because they received my son's organs."

At the ceremony, Thomason Hospital CEO Jim Valenti received two U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medals of Honor for sustained support of organ donations.

Recently, Thomason also ran an organ donation ad campaign throughout El Paso.

"One medal is for having one of the nation's highest donation rates, and the other is for helping us to recover more organs per donor than most hospitals nationwide," Silvestri said.

Thomason exceeded the federal government's goal of achieving a rate of 75 percent or more of eligible patient donors.