 Philanthropist Denny Sanford has received the 2018 Pontifical Key Philanthropy Award by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture and the Cura Foundation. The Vatican said in a press relief that that Sanford's generosity and commitment is a sign of profound empathy and commitment towards those in need. Delegates from the Vatican have traveled from Rome to give Sanford the award as part of the Unite to Cure movement. Denny Sanford is a self-made billionaire who rose from modest beginnings in St. Paul, Minnesota. Health care and children's causes have always been very important to Sanford. He lost his mother to breast cancer when he was four years old and later lost his father to heart disease. Sanford has given nearly one billion dollars in gifts in all of the Sanford health to help improve their health care system.