Every December, Nashville’s tour bus drivers give 400 Sumner County kids a party with Santa, a parade and a shopping spree. It’s the best day of their year.
Since 1982, Nashville’s tour bus drivers have rolled up to Sumner County schools to pick up kids who might not have much of a Christmas otherwise.
For one day, every one of them gets a party with Santa, a parade, and $200 to spend on anything they want.
Follow the buses from all over Middle Tennessee to the Bus Show, out to the schools, through the party and the parade, and home again. Scroll to drive.
Nashville’s entertainer coach drivers point the tour buses of country music’s biggest stars toward Hendersonville: down I-65 and 31E, in from Portland, Westmoreland and Gallatin, across the lake from Lebanon and Mount Juliet.
They pull in, string up the lights and open the doors. For a small donation you can tour the coaches, meet the artists and get an autograph.
At sunrise the buses fan out to 30 schools across Sumner County. Our lead bus has three stops on the way to Gallatin: Jack Anderson, Station Camp and Benny Bills Elementary.
Picture being eight years old and watching a country star’s bus pull into your school’s parking lot, just for you. Then climbing aboard.
Every bus rolls up to the Gallatin Civic Center, where Santa and Mrs. Claus throw the biggest Christmas party in town: lunch, live music, dancing and a hug from the big guy himself.
Led by Santa, the whole caravan rolls out of Gallatin and down U.S. 31E to Hendersonville while neighbors line the road to wave, honk and cheer.
Every kid is paired with their own chaperone and gets $200 to spend however they choose: toys, bikes, clothes, anything. Plus a brand-new winter coat to take home.
The buses take every kid, and every bag, back to their school. For a lot of them it’s the Christmas they’ll talk about for years.
Ride along as a chaperoneFrom Portland to Lebanon, Westmoreland to Goodlettsville, all over this map there’s a kid who had the best day of their whole year.
Fill a cartMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors; building footprints © Microsoft (ODbL). Routes follow the real roads; the schools shown are a sample of the ones we visit.
Running totals since the first caravan in 1982.
108,000 presents bought
12,000+ kids who got a Christmas
1,750 tour buses
44 Decembers and counting
A songwriter night, a golf scramble, the Annual Bus Show and the big day itself. Every event pays for the kids’ Christmas.
It takes 500+ volunteers, a fleet of drivers, donors and sponsors to pull off one day in December. Pick the badge that fits you.
Spend the day with one kid and make it the best one of their year.
Bring your coach to a school and give a busload of kids the ride of their lives.
Your gift buys the presents, the winter coats and the biggest party in town.
Help pay for the season and get your business’s name on it.
Every child gets $200 to spend on anything they want, plus a brand-new winter coat. Pick an amount and watch the cart fill up.
$200 fills a kid’s whole cart.
You’ll finish on PayPal’s secure giving page and can confirm your amount there. Christmas For Kids, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
You think about making a kid smile when there is very little to smile about in their life.
That’s what Christmas 4 Kids is all about.
Local businesses, banks, bus companies and foundations pay for the season. Thank you.
