Leadership San Antonio Class 51 will deploy seven teams to seven nonprofits October 7, tackling projects ranging from a wheelchair ramp build to youth homelessness outreach and neighborhood revitalization

SAN ANTONIO, TX (September 25, 2026) For one San Antonio resident, October 7 will mean something as simple, and significant, as being able to safely enter and leave their home with greater independence.

For dozens of other San Antonians, the day will bring refreshed community spaces, supplies for young people experiencing homelessness, support for local food pantries, neighborhood beautification and hands-on investment from some of the city’s emerging civic and business leaders. On Wednesday, October 7, the 70-member Leadership San Antonio Class 51 will fan out across San Antonio for Legacy Volunteer Day, deploying seven teams to seven nonprofit organizations for a single day of hands-on community service.

The projects will take class members from downtown San Antonio to community organizations across the city, with work ranging from constructing a wheelchair ramp for a homebound resident to packing street outreach kits for unhoused youth, revitalizing spaces for women and families, supporting a community pantry and engaging students at SAMSAT. Media are invited to cover the morning kickoff or follow Class 51 into the field. Reporters, photographers and news crews may coordinate access to individual project sites, interview class members and nonprofit partners, or capture the full 70-member cohort before teams disperse across San Antonio. “This day is about putting leadership into action,” said Bianca Perez, SAHCC Director of Programs “Our class has spent the year learning about the challenges, opportunities and people shaping San Antonio. Legacy Volunteer Day gives us the opportunity to step directly into that work and serve alongside the organizations strengthening our community every day.”

Throughout the program year, Class 51 is divided into seven Class Day teams, each responsible for developing a program focused on a key issue shaping San Antonio and the surrounding region. For Legacy Volunteer Day, each team selected a nonprofit partner and developed its own service project, turning the lessons of the Leadership San Antonio program into direct community action. Class members will also be joined by friends, family and Leadership San Antonio alumni, making Legacy Volunteer Day one of the program’s largest collective service efforts of the year.

MEDIA COVERAGE OPPORTUNITIES

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

7:20 a.m. — Check-In

Woodlawn Park Pavilion

7:30 a.m. — Breakfast

8:15 a.m. — Opening Program

The morning program will include remarks from:

• Leadership San Antonio Class 51 Tri-Chairs Ashley Harris of PNC Bank, Michelle Martinez of Birdieoso Strategies & The Local SATX, and Laura Vaccaro of the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation
• Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Jeff Webster and Board Chair Kevin C. Dinnin
• San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Luis A. Rodriguez and Board Chair Anamaria Suescun-Fast

Following the opening program, all seven teams will depart for project sites throughout San Antonio. Media interested in covering a specific project, coordinating interviews or joining a team at its service site should contact Crystal Cantu at crystalc@sahcc.org.

Seven Teams. Seven Nonprofits.

Class Day 1: The New Blueprint: Mapping an Equitable Future for All Catholic Charities Volunteers will tend the community garden, organize costumes for the center’s Fall Festival and support pantry operations by reorganizing supplies and preparing sandwiches for transitional clients.

Class Day 2: The People’s Mic: Powering Civic Participation Centro San Antonio Volunteers will conduct graffiti abatement and beautification projects aimed at keeping downtown San Antonio clean, vibrant and welcoming.

Class Day 3: Authentically San Antonio: Where Every Story Belongs La Zona Volunteers will spend the day improving and refreshing the La Zona community through hands-on beautification projects.

Class Day 4: Born to Succeed: Building SA’s Future from Day 1 YWCA San Antonio Volunteers will revitalize a community space used by program participants, clearing and reorganizing the gym to create a more welcoming, functional and engaging environment for the women, children and families served by the YWCA.

Class Day 5: The Overload Generation: Resetting for Resilience Thrive Youth Center Volunteers will assemble street outreach kits containing essential supplies for young people experiencing homelessness through Thrive’s Volunteer Street Outreach program.

Class Day 6: Mission Possible SAMSAT at Port San Antonio’s Tech Port Volunteers will support the museum’s Area 21 by cleaning, tagging and organizing artifacts, scanning donor forms and engaging with visiting students.

Class Day 7: A Journey Across the Super-Region Texas Ramp Project Volunteers will construct a wheelchair ramp for a homebound, low-income San Antonio resident with medical needs.

Depending on the home, Texas Ramp Project ramps may range from 10 to 70 feet in length and take approximately four hours to construct. But the impact can last far beyond the build itself. For the resident receiving the ramp, the finished project will provide safer, more independent access to their home and community, turning one day of volunteer service into a tangible change in daily life.

Leadership Beyond the Boardroom

Legacy Volunteer Day reflects a central goal of Leadership San Antonio: preparing leaders who not only understand the region’s challenges and opportunities, but who also build relationships with the people and organizations addressing those challenges firsthand.

By the end of October 7, Class 51 will have worked across seven different nonprofit sites throughout San Antonio, leaving behind completed projects and strengthened community spaces while gaining a deeper understanding of the city they are preparing to lead.

About Leadership San Antonio

Leadership San Antonio is a premier leadership program where participants gain insight from present and future decision-makers across the public and private sectors. Program graduates are better prepared to lead San Antonio into the future through a broader understanding of the region, its people and the issues shaping its growth.

More information is available at LeadershipSA.org.

MEDIA CONTACT

Crystal Cantu

crystalc@sahcc.org

(210) 649-7926