Strong Young Mothers Make Strides with Unity's - Unity Health System

Donor dollars in action | Crane Tournament
How health care should be
Margaret, and her late husband,
Frank LaPorta
VOLUNTEER PROFILE:
Margaret LaPorta
L to R: Mary Fran Kolbuc, R.N., Timothy Woodlock, M.D., Colleen and Mark Crane,
Tim Balconi
Crane Memorial Golf Tournament
Raises Cash for Cancer
The Crane family hosted their
17th annual Thomas I. Crane and
Marlene M. Crane Memorial Golf
Tournament at Victor Hills Golf
Club on August 16. Over 240
golfers came to support the
event, which raised $16,300. The
proceeds directly assist patients
who are in need of prescription
assistance for oncology medications
or require transportation to or
from the Unity St. Mary’s Campus
for their treatments at Unity’s
Oncology department.
“Our proceeds directly support
medication costs because it is so
important that everyone has access
to the proper cancer treatments,
regardless of income,” explained
Mark Crane, the Tournament’s
founder. The Crane family also
sponsors Unity’s annual Cancer
Survivors Picnic. “We really want to
keep up cancer awareness in the
community,” he said.
The tournament is named in honor
of Mark’s father, Thomas, who was
treated for colon cancer at the
Unity St. Mary’s Campus. “We
didn’t know a lot about cancer at
the time, so we were learning as we
were going through everything.
Dr. Tim Woodlock and Mary Fran
Kolbuc, the mana ger of Outpatient
Oncology, were absolutely wonderful.”
Since 1996, the Crane
family has raised
nearly $275,000 for Unity.
At 89 years young, Margaret LaPorta just
received her 1,000 hour volunteer pin for
her work in the Oncology department at
the Unity St. Mary’s Campus. She first
became involved with the program when
her late husband, Frank, was diagnosed
with cancer. “At the time, he was given
six months to live, but because of the
wonderful care provided at Unity’s St.
Mary’s Oncology department, Frank was
treated on and off for the next 12 years!”
After her husband passed away, Margaret
began volunteering. “I want to help the
patients, make them feel comfortable, be
there when they need something. And
volunteering helps me, too. When I don’t
feel good and I spend time helping
patients, at the end of the day it makes me
feel better just knowing I helped others.”
“I choose to volunteer at Unity because
they’re the best—they make everyone
feel special. When I had open heart
surgery and Frank was still getting treatments,
the staff made arrangements to get
him back and forth to the Hospital for his
treatments. They really treated us like we
were part of their family and that says
something about the kind of care Unity
offers.”
To learn more about Unity’s compassionate
cancer care, please visit unityhealth.org.
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