Humanitarians honored for contributions to area

Five longtime civic leaders were honored Thursday during the 41st annual Humanitarian Awards dinner of the Lynchburg chapter of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities.

Formerly known as the National Conference for Community and Justice, the organization recognized George and Rosemary Dawson, Stuart Fauber, Laura Munson and Sterling Wilder at the event at Lynchburg College.

LC President Kenneth Garren chaired the dinner, which sought to honor individuals who have made significant humanitarian contributions to the Lynchburg community.

George Dawson has been involved with health care in Lynchburg since becoming executive director of Virginia Baptist Hospital in 1980. He served as chief executive officer and was directly involved in the 1986 merger with Lynchburg General Hospital that led to the founding of Centra Health.

Since 1987, he has served as president and CEO of Centra Health, a nonprofit health care system with 4,500 employees.

He also has been involved with dozens of professional and civic boards and panels, and remains active on the board of directors for organizations including Bedford Memorial Hospital, Southside Community Hospital and the Region 2000 Partnership Economic Development Council.

His wife, Rosemary Dawson, also has been active as a 20-year community volunteer and physical education teacher.

In schools locally, she served as a board member and five-year athletic director at Seven Hills School and since 1999 has been a member of New Vistas School’s executive committee. Additionally, she was a founding member of the Central Virginia Wine Classic, an event that raises money for New Vistas School and Virginia School of the Arts.

She also has been involved with other local volunteer agencies, as a mentor and swim instructor for

children without family support and advocate for Mammograms Annually a Must, a women’s action group to promote breast cancer screening. She also has been involved with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Lynchburg, the Women’s Resource Center, Sports Capitol of Virginia, and the YMCA of Central Virginia.

Lynchburg native Stuart Fauber is president and CEO of the Greater Lynchburg Community Trust and has been active in the Lynchburg business community since 1973.

He began his banking career in 1974 as a management trainee with First & Merchants National Bank in Lynchburg, and worked his way up to being named president of SunTrust Bank in Lynchburg in 1998.

In 2008, Fauber retired from SunTrust and joined the Greater Lynchburg Community Trust. As president and CEO, he oversees a $30 million community foundation that returns more than $1 million to local charities.

Fauber also is past chairman of the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce’s board and serves on the boards of Lynchburg College, Centra Health, Lead Virginia, and Step With Links Inc.

Laura Munson has been active in the community as a substitute teacher, volunteer, board member and grant writer for Greater Lynchburg Habitat for Humanity and elder, trustee and Bible-study leader at Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church.

She also has been active with community volunteer groups including the League of Women Voters, the Lynchburg Historical Foundation, Jubilee Family Development Center, Interfaith Outreach Association and Providing Educational Opportunities for Women.

Munson also is restoration coordinator at Historic White Rock Cemetery and has been involved with the Lynchburg Museum System as a docent at Point of Honor for 25 years.

Sterling Wilder, executive director of Jubilee Family Development Center since 1998, also is the founder and executive director of Building Young Men and Women Mentoring Services, a tutorial program for children, adolescents and adults that has trained more than 500 students in the past nine years.

Wilder is active as vice chairman of the Lynchburg City School Board and board member of the Free Clinic of Central Virginia. He works with the Citizen’s Board of Youth and Prevention Services, the African American Advisory Council, Big Brothers and Sisters and Habitat for Humanity.

Wilder has been a past board member with both Junior Achievement and Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline Council.