Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Centers | |
 Kroc Center Station, Silver Line, Grand Rapids, Michigan | |
| Nickname | Kroc Center |
|---|---|
Region served | United States |
Parent organization | The Salvation Army |
| Website | kroccenter |
The Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Centers, or Kroc Centers, is a group of community centers run by the Salvation Army. [1] [2]
The centres have been funded by Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald's restaurants executive Ray Kroc.
In 1998, Joan Kroc donated $87 million (equivalent to $156 million in 2022) to the Salvation Army to build and endow the first Kroc Center in San Diego, California on what was an abandoned grocery store and other empty land. The center opened in June 2002. Currently, it is home to the American Basketball Association's San Diego Wildcats.
Upon her death in 2003, Kroc bequeathed $1.5 billion (equivalent to $3 billion in 2022) to The Salvation Army solely for the purpose of establishing centers of opportunity, education, recreation and inspiration throughout the United States to be known as "Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Centers". [3] [4] [5]
The Kroc Center in San Francisco, California broke ground in June 2006, and the Kroc Center in Atlanta, Georgia, formally known as The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Center: A Center for Worship and Education, broke ground in 2007. The San Francisco Kroc Center received $53 million (equivalent to $95 million in 2022).
In 2023, there are 25 Kroc Centers across 20 US states, as well as one in Puerto Rico. [6]
The centers work to reach their local community with services including sports, health education, music, youth groups, counselling, financial literacy classes, food distribution and emergency help. [7] [8] [9] Each center also holds at least one church service every week. [10]
Every year about five million people visit the Kroc Centers. [11]
The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organization headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7 million, consisting of soldiers, officers, and adherents who are collectively known as Salvationists. Its founders sought to bring salvation to the poor, destitute, and hungry by meeting both their "physical and spiritual needs". It is present in 133 countries, running charity shops, operating shelters for the homeless, and disaster relief and humanitarian aid to developing countries.
Raymond Albert Kroc was an American businessman. He purchased the fast food company McDonald's in 1961 from the McDonald brothers and was its CEO from 1967 to 1973. Kroc is credited with the global expansion of McDonald's, turning it into the most successful fast food corporation in the world by revenue.
Joan Beverly Kroc, also known as Joni, was an American philanthropist and third wife of McDonald's CEO Ray Kroc.
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