HOUSTON—CBRE Group, Inc.'s Myra Smith, a Houston-based managing director in the company's occupier services group, was included in Fortune's Heroes of the 500 2014, part of the magazine's Fortune 500 coverage. The feature highlighted employees from America's biggest companies who have performed extraordinary acts of bravery, charity, ingenuity or selflessness—transforming their communities and the lives of others in the process.

Smith was honored for her work with CBRE's Birthday Cakes & More for Homeless Children program, which she started in 1998 when she began delivering birthday cakes to children living in a local Houston shelter. CBRE offices across the U.S. quickly adopted the initiative, and it has been an official CBRE philanthropic program since 2001. To date, CBRE employees in 55 cities across the United States have delivered more than 7,500 birthday cakes to children in 81 shelters.

“It is a tremendous honor to be recognized by Fortune, and I'm thankful that so many of my CBRE colleagues have helped make this initiative a success,” says Smith. “Knowing that homeless children are going to receive a small dose of love from our employees is the most rewarding feeling, and I hope that our small gesture of love has the power to change their lives.”