Bette Hervey started her professional career in El Paso selling real estate. She did not sell a single house—but it was a huge success, she recalls. "I met a great many people, and forged great relationships, among them George Hervey." George was a business leader, a builder and founding member of the El Paso Association of Builders. They married, and Bette decided that real estate may not be her calling. Instead, she became a Spanish teacher at North Loop Elementary. When Bette Hervey joined the board of Goodwill Industries, she embarked on yet another career, a self-proclaimed "do-gooder." She earned the title through her vision and commitment. "I was the happiest I had ever been helping someone else," said Ms. Hervey.

Bette helped create Kermezaar, an art fair and auction to benefit the El Paso Museum of Art. She created Christmas Street, which raises money for the El Paso Rehabilitation Center, an agency that provided assistance to more than 5,000 families with disabled children in 2003. Now in its 31st year, Christmas Street is among Bette Hervey's most cherished personal achievements.

In 1980 Bette Hervey won the Hanna G. Solomon award for her work in helping women and children in the community. The award, given by the National Council of Jewish Women for achievements in social justice, holds a treasured place on Ms. Hervey's mantle.

Not long after Bette Hervey became involved with the El Paso Community Foundation, she served on its board, and did something extraordinary. She gave her home to the Foundation. She had decided to move, and she deeded her house to the people of El Paso. The sale of that house helped build everything a home should provide—security, solace, and quality of life—for all of El Paso, by building an edifice of giving through the El Paso Community Foundation. "I saw the Foundation as a way of doing good with some direction and awareness of what is going on in El Paso," remembers Mrs. Hervey. The Bette and George Hervey Fund for General Charitable Purposes is Bette Hervey's Great Gift to El Paso. "It is a way to return something to the city I love," said Ms. Hervey, "a way of belonging." The Community Foundation will ensure that Bette Hervey's Great Gift to El Paso belongs to all of us for a very long time.