The late Dr. Mae Adele Berrian is an historic honoree of the Henderson County Education Foundation , as the first Donor of the Year. She willed a very large sum of money to start the long-term Berrian Fund for the strings program in Henderson County Public Schools, which benefits about 300 high school and middle school students each year. The Fund began soon after her death in 2001. Adele Berrian earned several college degrees from prestigious universities across the country over 35 years, from 1927-1962. She was honored in the Fall of 2004 by East Henderson High's orchestral strings festival in her name.