The mission of the Orr Fellowship is deeply rooted in service to the community. Through group service projects and personal service initiatives, Fellows actively pursue and participate in activities that have a positive impact in their communities. Below are two service projects many past and present fellows are involved in:

Common Goal

With Fellows involved in numerous initiatives across the state, the Fellowship’s partnership with Common Goal has attracted the largest Fellow participation. Spearheaded by the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, Common Goal is an active collaboration of educators, community organizations, and business leaders, which aims to raise the graduation rate and decrease the number of high school dropouts in Marion County high schools. Of Common Goal’s six interventions, many Fellows choose to participate in the mentoring program with New Tech Academy at Arsenal Technical High School.

Lemonade Day

In late 2009, Houston entrepreneur and native Hoosier Michael Holthouse asked local entrepreneur Scott Jones (www.scottajones.com) to bring this great program that he founded – Lemonade Day — to the Indianapolis area. This unique program teaches kids how to start, own and operate their own business: a lemonade stand. Kids viscerally learn about entrepreneurship, financial literacy, philanthropy and much more. Scott agreed without hesitation to spearhead Lemonade Day in Indianapolis and started a new foundation – The Think Forward Foundation – to do it. It was a huge commitment but he didn’t hesitate. Here’s why…

Today fewer and fewer kids are engaging in entrepreneurial activities like mowing lawns or starting lemonade stands. And yet many entrepreneurs talk about their early childhood experiences starting lemonade stands, or selling golf balls to empty-handed golfers, as the moment when the “light bulb went off.” The moment when they knew they could control their own destinies and possibly even change the world with their ideas. A lemonade stand did that for Scott, and he wants other kids to have that “light bulb” moment.