Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas is set to host its 5th Annual Wishes Under the Stars Gala on September 26 at the InterContinental San Antonio Riverwalk, and the timing carries extra weight this year: the chapter just announced it completed 200 wish fulfillments across its region during its 2026 fiscal year, even as hundreds of local children remain on the waiting list.
The gala announcement, posted by the chapter on Facebook, ties the September 26 event directly to that fiscal-year milestone, according to Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas. As CultureMap San Antonio reports, the evening is designed to bring together community leaders, corporate partners, donors, volunteers, wish families, and supporters around wish stories, mission moments, dining, and entertainment, with proceeds supporting the chapter's work granting wishes to critically ill children across central and south Texas. Event details, including ticket information, are posted at wish.org/cstx/wishes-under-stars, though the outlet notes the gala remains subject to change due to weather or other concerns.
A Waiting List That Outpaces Last Year's Wins
Even with 200 wishes granted this fiscal year, the chapter reports that between 350 and 400 local children with critical illnesses are still actively waiting for their wishes to be fulfilled, per a Constant Contact update from the organization. That backlog is precisely what fundraising galas like this one are built to shrink, since national guidelines from the Make-A-Wish Foundation put the average cost per wish at roughly $10,000 and set eligibility at children ages 2½ to 18 diagnosed with a critical illness — not necessarily a terminal one, as the majority of wish recipients survive their illnesses.
Last year's iteration of the event, the 4th Annual Wishes Under the Stars Gala, was held at San Antonio's Kimpton Santo Hotel and raised over $500,000 to fulfill more than 48 wishes, drawing more than 350 attendees, according to the chapter's Facebook recap. That 2025 gala was chaired by Lorena and Brian Kieser and included a live wish reveal for a child named Henry to meet the San Antonio Spurs. The chapter's sister event in Austin, Wish Night, also posted strong numbers this year, raising $570,000 in April with TV personality Allison Miller co-hosting alongside a wish recipient who had attended Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.
A New Downtown Venue With Room to Grow
This year's gala moves to the InterContinental San Antonio Riverwalk, a 21-story hotel that opened in August 2024 after a $158 million redevelopment of the former Wyndham hotel along Pecan Street, according to MySA. The renovation added 390 guest rooms and 18,000 square feet of event space, including an 8,200-square-foot ballroom, rooftop amenities, and direct access to River Walk water taxis. The hotel sits at 111 E Pecan St in downtown San Antonio.
Wish Alum Returns as Co-Emcee
Co-emceeing the event is Yuriza Wells, a wish alum whose 2024 wish was to attend the Grammy Awards following her cancer treatment. Wells was diagnosed with cancer at age 17 during high school, and in 2026 she was selected as a National Spokeskid for The Sunshine Kids Foundation. Before her diagnosis, Wells was active in school color guard and had originally aimed for a military career before shifting her focus to psychology studies, which she now pursues while volunteering in her community.
Joining her as co-emcee is Kimberly Crawford, host and executive producer of Daytime, a lifestyle program filmed at FOX 29 KABB in San Antonio that syndicates to regional television markets across Texas. Crawford has hosted morning television in San Antonio for over a decade, according to MySA.
The Case for Wishes as Medicine
Beyond the emotional appeal, there is research suggesting wishes carry measurable health benefits. A 2018 study published in Pediatric Research found that children who received a Make-A-Wish experience were 2.5 times less likely to have unplanned hospital admissions and 1.9 times less likely to visit emergency departments than non-recipient control patients, based on an analysis of 496 wish recipients at Nationwide Children's Hospital tracked over two years, as indexed on PubMed.
Founded in 1984, Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas has granted more than 6,500 wishes across a 40-county territory spanning central and south Texas, operating from a primary office in Austin and a regional office on Loop 410 in San Antonio. With 350 to 400 children still waiting on wishes of their own, the chapter is hoping the September 26 gala — and its new downtown Riverwalk setting — can help close that gap one evening at a time.
