![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Make-A-Wish-1024x781.jpg\")
(Courtesy Image)<\/p>\nMake-A-Wish North Texas has received a $1 million commitment from The Chismark Family Foundation to help reduce the growing backlog of wish requests for children with critical illnesses across the region.<\/p>\n
The donation was announced June 27 during a Make-A-Wish North Texas alumni celebration and the launch of the organization\u2019s \u201cTwo Years, Too Long\u201d campaign at Lincoln Centre Park. Nearly 500 people, including wish recipients and their families, volunteers, donors, board members and community supporters, attended the event.<\/p>\n
The campaign aims to address a growing wait list of more than 1,100 eligible children in North Texas. According to the organization, some families are waiting more than two years for their wishes to be granted because of current funding levels.<\/p>\n
Ryan Chismark, whose family foundation made the gift, said the donation reflects the family\u2019s commitment to supporting children and families during some of their most difficult moments.<\/p>\n
(Courtesy Image)<\/p>\n
\u201cChelsea and I support Make-A-Wish because every child deserves moments of hope, joy and possibility, especially during the hardest seasons of life,\u201d Chismark said in a statement. \u201cWe hope this gift not only helps grant more wishes for children and families who need hope today, but also inspires other young professionals and business leaders to realize they can make a meaningful difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event featured live music, games, food and activities for families, along with the organization\u2019s Iron Wish Tree, an installation recognizing wishes that have already been fulfilled while representing children still waiting for their wish experiences.<\/p>\n
Kim Elenez, chief executive officer of Make-A-Wish North Texas, said the contribution will allow the organization to grant wishes more quickly while raising awareness of the need for additional community support.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir support comes at an important time for our organization and the families we serve,\u201d Elenez said. \u201cThis gift will help us move more quickly to deliver life-changing wishes while building momentum around a campaign focused on ensuring no child waits longer than necessary for hope and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Make-A-Wish North Texas, more than 1,150 children in the region are diagnosed with critical illnesses each year. The organization works with donors, volunteers and community partners to provide wish experiences that research suggests can improve emotional well-being, strengthen families and provide encouragement during medical treatment.<\/p>\n
Make-A-Wish North Texas is one of the regional affiliates of the national Make-A-Wish organization, which grants wishes for children with critical illnesses through community support and charitable contributions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Make-A-Wish North Texas has received a $1 million commitment from The Chismark Family Foundation to help reduce the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[160,162,161],"class_list":["post-356664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}