The 15th Christmas
From one party for 50 kids to more than 8,000 children served, all run by volunteers.
The Story
How a party became a missionGive A Little Christmas began in 2012 with one man’s idea. Country songwriter Glenn Douglas Tubb, nephew of Grand Ole Opry legend Ernest Tubb, wanted to throw a Christmas party for children living in shelters. He and his wife Dottie had already been playing Santa and Mrs. Claus for years. Krys Midgett and Olivia West Hedges turned that party into a charity. They pulled it together in two weeks, with Grand Ole Opry singers and hit songwriters singing carols, and 50 children got a visit from Santa that first year. For its first two years, the party, called “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” served children in family shelters.
Organizers soon saw that the greatest need was among families just above the poverty line, whose emergencies left nothing for Christmas. The project took the name Give A Little Christmas, a tie-in to Krys’s Give A Little Nashville magazine, and in 2016 it became a program of Artists For Community Transformation International.
Today the charity serves families across Middle Tennessee, with a focus on Mt. Juliet, Hermitage and Lebanon. It helps families going through a sudden hardship, like a job loss, an illness, a house fire or leaving a dangerous home. Families apply directly or are referred by school counselors, the VA, foster organizations and neighbors. Help is based on need, not income, and the charity serves every age from newborn to 18, including the teenagers many programs leave out.
Each child receives four to five gifts, and volunteers work to include at least one item from the child’s own letter to Santa. Parents take the gifts home in plain black bags with wrapping paper, so the surprise stays intact and Santa can deliver them on Christmas Eve. Everything is sorted and packed at Santa’s Workshop in Mt. Juliet, a volunteer-run hub that stores donated toys, clothes, books and decorations year-round.
Give A Little Christmas is volunteer-driven and community-supported, and operates under Artists For Community Transformation International, a registered 501(c)(3). This December marks its 15th Christmas.