MINNEAPOLIS (November 15, 2010)— Margery Sborov, founder and board president of Angel Foundation, has been named to Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s 2010 Volunteer Hall of Fame for the extraordinary difference her work has made to more than 13,000 Twin Cities residents. Sborov was one of eight local volunteers who received the Burt & Rusty Cohen Award, which acknowledged each individual’s wide range of volunteer activities at an induction ceremony on October 20 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Sborov has dedicated her life to helping Minnesota families face cancer together. At age 16, her boyfriend was diagnosed with leukemia, but his parents didn’t tell him of his illness before he died. “Since then, I’ve been an advocate of communication with cancer patients,” says Sborov. “I wanted to give adults the tools to talk with their children and a sense of control in a time when everything feels out of control.”
In 2001, she founded Angel Foundation to provide the unique service of financial aid to cancer patients for non-medical expenses and to create a safe place for families to learn to talk openly with each other about cancer.
Nearly half of cancer patients fall below the poverty line during treatment and many become unable to afford necessities like food and heat. Sborov’s work has led to $1.9 million in grants for food, utilities, and mortgage payments for thousands of cancer patients throughout the Twin Cities area since 2001.
“Margie is an inspiration to everyone she comes in contact with,” says Angel Foundation Executive Director Marsha Lietz. “The programs she created have restored financial and emotional hope to thousands of families.”
The Volunteer Hall of Fame was created in 1989 to honor those Minneapolis and St. Paul residents who have made an extraordinary difference to the Twin Cities through their volunteer efforts. Honorees are also featured in Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s November issue, which was mailed in late October.
Angel Foundation provides emergency financial assistance to adult cancer patients in the seven-county metro area of the Twin Cities to meet critical nonmedical needs such as mortgage or rent payments, food, utilities and transportation costs. This support helps reduce the stress of lifestyle changes in order to retain dignity and quality of life. Angel Foundation also offers free education and support through its Facing Cancer Together programs to families who have a parent with cancer. Facing Cancer Together teaches families how to talk with each other about cancer issues and to use the experience as a chance to build strength and resilience, and find hope and meaning.