LAKEWOOD RANCH -- Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, and her husband, Donald, owners of Vanessa Fine Jewelry, are the 2016 C. John A. Clarke Humanitarian of the Year Award recipients.

The Lakewood Ranch Community Fund will honor the Baughs along with Rick Fawley, former president of Fawley Bryant Architects Inc., at the March 19 Disco Ball Gall at the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club.

The award is presented to "honor individuals who have distinguished themselves through their high professional standards, unwavering ethical and moral values and steadfast dedication to improve the quality of life for people in our community," according to a release.

In 1999, the Baughs opened Vanessa Fine Jewelry and have gotten involved with a number of local community organizations. The Baughs established one of the first Founder 50 donor-advised funds with the Lakewood Ranch Community Fund, according to the release.

This December marks 10 years since Don and Vanessa Baugh opened Vanessa Fine Jewelry on Lakewood Main Street.

The couple is celebrating the landmark anniversary by offering their valued customers one free insurance document or 10% off one repair from now until Valentine’s Day 2016. The 10th Anniversary Coupon is available on the company website (www.VanessaFineJewelry.com) and through their social media channels.

Don and Vanessa have been an integral part of the community since 1999 when they relocated to the Sarasota/Manatee area form Virginia and opened Vanessa's Jewelcrafters in the Sarasota Square Mall. In 2001, they moved the store to the Southgate Mall and renamed it Vanessa Fine Jewelry. In 2005, they opened a second location in Lakewood Ranch. There, on Lakewood Main Street, they found what had been missing from the mall locations, the ability to truly become a part of their community, so they closed the Southgate location and focused all their energy on the new flagship store.

Their commitment to making Manatee County and the surrounding communities of Sarasota County a better place is evident in their involvement with organization like Meals on Wheels, Girls, Inc., SMART, the Lakewood Ranch Community Fund, the Lakewood Ranch Kiwanis Club, the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Council.

This same commitment drove Vanessa to run for public office and, in 2012, she was elected to represent District 5, which includes Lakewood Ranch and Myakka City, in the Manatee Board of County Commissioners. These days, the office takes up most of her time, but you can still see Commissioner Baugh behind the counter at Vanessa Fine Jewelry from time to time.