Austin Christmas light display raised over $80,000 for critically ill children

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Jordan Maywald, 24, is at it again. This is the eighth year in a row he has put together an awe-inspiring display of lights at his Austin home, not only to impress his neighbors but to raise money for critically ill children – he raised over $80,000 for the Make-a-Wish Foundation last year. 

Like many young people, Maywald’s favorite time of year was putting up the lights for Christmas with his family. But when some people’s passion for Christmas lights dimmed, Maywald’s intensified.

“I always just loved it so much. And then I took it to the ultimate extreme. I guess you could say,” Maywald explained. 

Maywald has been putting up Christmas lights at his property since he was nine and collecting donations from curious spectators for the Make-a-Wish Foundation for the last eight years. His display has become so popular that he can expect to tally around 15,000 Christmas enthusiasts each year. The money he has raised has granted a total of 27 wishes. All of the proceeds go to the organization. 

“Whenever we turn in the money, we actually get to meet a lot of the kids with grant wishes, which is really special,” he said. “A lot of them go to Disney World. We sent a young girl to New York a few years ago, someone to Hawaii and then another kid went all the way to Japan, which was really cool,” he continued. 

Maywald’s exhibition holds around 300,000 LED lights and took over two months to set up. His favorite display is a part of the property where he has covered the ground in a sea of 15,000 blue-tinted lights, which he has called “Wish Lake.” In the artificial body of water is a luminescent lighthouse, and flying above are ten reindeer symbolizing the ten wishes he helped grant last year. In front of the lake are arches adorned with 27 stars, representing the total number of wishes he has helped grant. 

“It's actually what the whole display is basically about. It's – I call it – kind of the heart of the display,” Maywald said. “It’s my favorite.”

It doesn’t stop there. Also throughout the property, a 17-foot Santa Maywald, a snowman made of tires painted white tires, and of course, a fluorescent Texas flag.

If you’re curious about how much the Maywald residence’s light bill is by the end of the year, it is not as frightful as you may think. Because he uses LED lights, Maywald said the bill only increases by around $100 during the festive season. 

And in terms of how much the costs of the display, Maywald said since it is a lifelong hobby, he hasn’t had to purchase much in recent years. Further, he recently decided to turn this hobby into a career. In the last 12 months, he started his own business putting up Christmas lights called Holiday Lights and Creations.

Maywald said his display will be up until Dec 28 this year. He encourages anyone that comes to make a donation with cash or card.