Waldon H. and Adele Orr Charitable Trust

Mission

To support a variety of charitable causes in Brazos County, Texas, with a focus on health, human services and religious purposes.

Annual application deadlines

July 31

Program areas

Health
Human services
Religion

States served

Texas

Geographic limitations

Brazos County, Texas

Trustees

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

The Waldon H. and Adele Orr Charitable Trust awards grants in Brazos County, Texas, with a focus on health, human services, and religious purposes.

Requirements

• To be eligible, organizations must qualify as exempt organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Limitations

The foundation does not fund requests to support endowments.

Average giving

Average grant size: $5,000 to $10,000
Average number of grants per year: 23
Average total giving per year: $256,000

Annual application period and deadlines

Applications are accepted year-round. Applications must be submitted by July 31 to be reviewed at the annual grant meeting that occurs in September.

Communications

Applicants will receive an automated email confirming their submission. Grant decisions are generally communicated by October for applications received by the deadline.

The Waldon H. and Adele Orr Charitable Trust was created in the Last Will and Testament of Waldon H. Orr dated August 8, 1996.

Mr. Orr was born in the Edge Community in north Brazos County, Texas on June 9, 1912. He attended school at Edge and Sam Houston College in Huntsville where after 1 1/2 years, he dropped out of college and took employment at Humpty Dumpty Grocery store in Bryan, Texas.

Adele J. Syptak was born on June 17, 1914 at Wheelock, Texas. She attended school at Wheelock and graduated from Bryan High School.

Waldon and Adele were married on April 21, 1935.Waldon and Adele joined the First Methodist Church in Bryan in 1943, and they remained as members of this church for the rest of their lives.

Waldon and Adele opened their own grocery store in 1939 on North Main Street in Bryan, Texas.

On August 2, 1943, Waldon was drafted into the army and was discharged on December 3, 1945. He received the Bronze Star Medal for his superior record as manager of the Twenty Fifth Infantry Division Exchange. While Waldon was in the army, Adele managed the grocery store.

In 1946, Waldon and Adele built a new store at 200 East 24th Street in Bryan, Texas. In 1953, a second Orr's Supermarket was built at 3516 Texas Avenue in Bryan, Texas. Both stores were sold in 1971 to Piggly Wiggly Red River Co., Inc.

Mr. Orr passed away on April 5, 2000 in Bryan, Texas, and Mrs. Orr passed away on January 7, 2002.