Breckenridge Christmas Tree Village on Nov. 26, 2022 (Santana Wood/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

In its first year, Breckenridge Christmas Tree Village raised $62,729 in less than three weeks.

All funds raised will benefit the adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities served by nonprofit Breckenridge Village, which is a residential community for adults with mild or moderate intellectual or developmental disabilities. The facility, located at 15062 County Road 1145 in Tyler, offers residential and day enrichment programs that empower residents to develop spiritually, physically and socially.

Following this year’s success, Breckenridge Village plans to make Breckenridge Christmas Tree Village an annual tradition, sharing the Christmas spirit with the community for a great cause.

“I cannot say thank you enough to everyone who bought a tree, who helped set up trees, who decorated, who donated,” said Breckenridge Village Executive Director Chelsea Owens. “We had staff working after hours and weekends. We had volunteers helping us since our very first day. At every turn, we were reminded we had the backing and support of a community far beyond our little plot of land here.”

Breckenridge Christmas Tree Village, located near Tyler Pounds Regional Airport, opened after Thanksgiving, welcoming East Texas families to what organizers called a special “holiday destination.”

The village was home to 1,500 evergreen trees shipped straight from Oregon. The lot included all different heights, shapes, colors and price ranges of Nordmann and Noble firs.

Breckenridge Christmas Tree Village was a first for the East Texas area as a full-fledged Christmas destination, where buying a tree was only one of many options for families looking to celebrate the holiday season in addition to entertainment, refreshments, a gift shop and setups for family photos.

After being open for just over two weeks, the village had already raised a significant amount of money and decided to pay it forward by blessing the community in return for its support.

Beginning Dec. 11, Breckenridge allowed East Texans to take home one of its fresh, high-quality evergreen trees for free until trees ran out.

Although the trees were given away at no cost, donations benefiting Breckenridge Village were accepted, which helped raise even more funds for the local nonprofit.

Breckenridge Village thanks FirstDay Foundation, a charitable foundation based in San Antonio that provides philanthropic grants and management and governance services to nonprofit organizations doing good work in Texas and beyond, and Atlas Base Camp for the time, expertise, generosity, logistics and other support they provided to ensure Breckenridge Christmas Tree Village was a success.