In 2015, as a Senior at Austin High School, after many run-ins (including one in a rainstorm) with doors that he just couldn’t open. He conceived of the Mr. Maroo Challenge. He attacked the problem by posing a simple challenge to his classmates and teachers: trade your feet for wheels and try to navigate your world from a manual wheelchair. Students and teachers paid $20 to challenge each other. They would then wheel through their school day, going one-on-one with more than a few chair-stopping moments. He set the humble goal of raising $40,000 and ended up raising over $87,000, enough money to install 5 automatic doors, a ramp, and overhead roof where he got rained on.

After the success of the Mr. Maroo Challenge Archer expanded the Challenge to five other high schools across the Austin Independent School District. Those challenges were successful and we were able to make those campuses more accessible by installing automatic doors at each campus.

Following the high school challenges Archer’s Challenge was born. We acquired partnerships with H-E-B grocery stores, the YMCA of Austin, The University of Texas at Austin, Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, and Cabela’s Outfitters. A Challenge was hosted in conjunction with each partner creating a week long event that spread across Central Texas. The first Archer’s Challenge city-wide event was held in 2016. The event went gangbusters and continued three consecutive years in a row. Over 13,000 people have taken the Challenge since its inception. We have raised over a million dollars to support accessibility in Central Texas.