Country Music Association Donates $3 Million to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital

The Country Music Association is now gearing up for the 2015 CMA Awards on Wednesday night (Nov. 4), but in late October, the organization was celebrating for a different reason.

On Oct. 20, the association called in Kix Brooks and Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott to help present a $3 million check to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, in Nashville.

“Country music is a format known for telling stories," Brooks, who serves on the boards for both the CMA and the children's hospital, says in a statement. "Now, the country music community will be known for building them.

According to the Tennessean newspaper, the money will be used to pay for a four-story expansion, adding 160,000 square feet, to help the hospital serve more children. The first phase of the expansion will add two floors and about 80 beds, to serve children who need special care, including premature births, neurosurgery patients, organ transplants and more.

"Building floors means helping more children and families — locally, regionally and around the world," adds Brooks, "and I can’t imagine anyone with a heart not embracing what is going on at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt."

More information about the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt can be found at ChildrensHospital.Vanderbilt.org.

The 2015 CMA Awards are scheduled to air live from Nashville on Nov. 4 at 8PM ET on ABC. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are co-hosting the event for the eighth year and will also each perform during the show. Other performers include Florida Georgia Line, Little Big Town, the Zac Brown Band, Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Sam Hunt, Kenny Chesney, Kelsea Ballerini, Miranda Lambert, Maddie & Tae, Kacey Musgraves, Eric Church and Hank Williams Jr., Thomas Rhett and Fall Out Boy, Keith Urban with John Mellencamp, Dierks Bentley with electronic violinist Lindsey Stirling, Reba McEntire, Brooks and Ronnie Dunn and Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake.