The North Texas Community Foundation just landed the largest gift in its 44-year history, an estate gift topping $100 million from the late Beverly Hudgins Ray Parkhurst, and the money is already flowing into Fort Worth parks, history projects and a new garden within the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. The gift established five permanent endowed funds designed to keep Parkhurst's philanthropic priorities alive indefinitely, with grants distributed annually from here on out.
A Fort Worth Native's Final Gift
Parkhurst grew up in Fort Worth, graduated from Carter-Riverside High School and earned a business degree from Texas Christian University before going on to help open the Texas Pavilion at the 1965 World's Fair and later restore and manage the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach, California, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Her estate gift, confirmed by North Texas Community Foundation, established five permanent, endowed funds meant to carry her giving forward for good. The foundation says the endowed gift will support historic preservation, land conservation, young women's education, animals, arts and vulnerable populations.
Rose Bradshaw said the gift was, in her words, a true testament to the power of philanthropy, per the Star-Telegram's reporting. The foundation has framed the gift as a way to continue Beverly's support for her community in perpetuity, with the fund distributing grants annually to causes aligned with her interests.
First Dollars Already Out the Door
The foundation didn't wait long to start putting the money to work. It gave $600,000 to the Fort Worth Open Space and Parks Conservancy, which will use the allocation to protect land and natural resources, and delivered a $250,000 operating gift to the Texas Historical Foundation this past July, money the group will use for building preservation, archaeological investigations and conservation, according to the Star-Telegram's reporting.
The first grant tied to the estate, $500,000, went to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden in support of its new masterplan, according to North Texas Community Foundation. The garden plans to open a family garden in November, per the Star-Telegram. That $500,000 is backing the garden's roughly two-acre Baker Martin Family Garden, which Fort Worth Inc. reports will include 11 themed galleries, a 150-foot creek and a LEED-certified Discovery Center built for hands-on exploration by kids and families.
A Transformational Boost, Garden Leader Says
Fort Worth Botanic Garden President and CEO Patrick Newman called the $500,000 transformational, per the Star-Telegram, and the foundation quotes him saying her support brings us closer to realizing our vision. The garden also received support through the Parkhurst gift.
Part of a Bigger Local Giving Push
The Parkhurst gift lands as the foundation's BEACON program has been ramping up its own local grantmaking. This year's BEACON cycle awarded two-year operating support grants to 31 nonprofit organizations, marking the foundation's largest grant cycle ever and pushing BEACON's total investment past $1.3 million since its 2025 launch, according to the Fort Worth Report. The first year of that 2026 funding round is investing $762,850 in organizations serving historically disinvested neighborhoods across Tarrant County, up from the $590,500 awarded to 22 nonprofits when BEACON launched in 2025. Grantees from that first year reached more than 70,000 individuals across the county, the Fort Worth Report noted.
The examples below include large Texas-related gifts. A $100 million donation from oil executive George Bishop and his wife Kathy to Mississippi State University topped the state's list of biggest charitable gifts in 2023, according to the Dallas Morning News. That same year, the University of Texas at Austin partnered with donor Stephen Winn on a planned $200 million environmental sustainability research site built around Winn's $50 million gift, while the Harry W. Bass Jr. Foundation gave $40 million to the University of Texas at Dallas for its School of Arts, Humanities and Technology. For Fort Worth, though, Parkhurst's estate has funded local causes in the community where she grew up.
