Christmas Village Sets Record with $585K Donation to Nashville Organizations in 2015

During the 55-year history of Christmas Village the Nashville Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club has raised and donated over $10 million. The primary beneficiary is the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center. The two additional beneficiaries include Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and the Tennessee Beta Chapter of Pi Beta Phi at Vanderbilt University. Arrowmont, located in Gatlinburg TN, is an internationally known visual arts complex, attracting thousands of students from around the world.

Setting a record in 2015, Christmas Village donated $117,000 and $58,500 respectively, for a total donation of $585,000.

The Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center, beneficiary of $409,500 from the 2015 Christmas Village, treats persons challenged by communications-related diseases and disorders. Serving patients from Nashville as well as from all over the nation, the Center makes over 80,000 patient visits every year. Established with start-up funds provided by Christmas Village, the Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute provides speech, language cognitive, occupational, and physical therapy for patients of all ages who have experienced a traumatic brain injury or other neurological disorder.

Christmas Village is Nashville's oldest and most prestigious consumer show with more than 260 merchants and 25,000 shoppers throughout the four-day event. A variety of unique seasonal and gift items are offered, including: toys for all ages, clothing for children and adults, jewelry, food items, pottery, collectables and unusual pieces for the "person who has everything."

Members of the Nashville Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club, are women who joined Pi Beta Phi at colleges and universities all over the country, and serve on the Christmas Village board and committees, spending more than 1500 hours annually planning and executing the event, which uses over 200 volunteers. The annual net proceeds donated by Christmas Village to its philanthropies rank the event consistently in the top contributing charitable events in Nashville.

The Nashville Alumnae Club, Pi Beta Phi Fraternity, is a non-profit, volunteer organization, which works year round to successfully produce this event with the proceeds benefiting the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center, the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and the Tennessee Beta Chapter of Pi Beta Phi at Vanderbilt.

Pictured: Donna Dalton (Director of Community Development at Vanderbilt), Sharina Sheehan (Christmas Village Co-Chair), Ashley Seth (Christmas Village Co-Chair), Anne Marie Tharpe (Professor and Chair, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at Vanderbilt), Michael de Riesthal (Assistant Professor and Director, Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute at Vanderbilt.

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