Alumnae receive humanitarian awards from Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities

Frances J. Giles ’65, Dorothy “Dolly” S. Cardwell ’58, and William Cardwell, along with other recipients of the 2019 humanitarian awards

Frances J. Giles ’65 and Dorothy “Dolly” S. Cardwell ’58 were recently honored with 2019 humanitarian awards at the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities’ (VCIC) 52nd annual Lynchburg Humanitarian Awards Dinner. Around 450 community members attended the ceremony at the University of Lynchburg on May 30.

Giles has been a community volunteer for decades and has worked as a librarian, French teacher, and as co-owner for the Shop of John Simmons. She has volunteered with United Way of Central Virginia, Awareness Garden, Point of Honor, Opera on the James, and Lynchburg Garden Club. She is a trustee emerita for Randolph College, where she established the Helen and Ruffin Jones Global Studies Scholarship for students or faculty members to study abroad. In addition, she is an active member of First Presbyterian Church, and is a founding and current board member of Amazement Square Children’s Museum.

Cardwell and her husband, William, received the award for their outstanding community service. They worked as counselors at the Lynchburg Covenant Fellowship day camp (now Camp Kum-Ba-Yah) during college. Dolly also worked at the Macon Bookshop at Randolph (then R-MWC) for 19 years. She has volunteered with the Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, the Lynchburg Junior Woman’s Club, Lynchburg Learning Disabilities Association, Bedford Hills PTA, and The Gateway. She currently works with young children at the retreat center for the Church of the Covenant.

William worked in the computer science field, and held jobs at B&W, Ericsson, Benchmark Systems, and IBM. Since his retirement in 2008, he has been active in the Toastmasters Club, E.C. Glass Band Booster Program, ministries of the Church of the Covenant, and Camp Kum-Ba-Yah, where he has served on the board for 50 years. He is also a leader in restoring the Dixon Historical Cemetery in Campbell County and worked with the Children’s Defense Fund to help bring a Freedom School to Lynchburg (which just started at Randolph this week).