Ray and Joan Kroc Center
Ray and Joan Kroc Center
When the McDonald’s founder passed away in 1984, he left behind his billion dollar fortune to his third wife, Joan Beverly Kroc. Four years later, she donated $87 million of the fortune she had inherited from her late billionaire husband to the Salvation Army. $47 million of this gift was meant to build and equip this Center, while the other $40 million was placed into an endowment to help subsidize its operating budget. It was four years in the making, and took over 350 volunteers to put together and plan, but it finally opened its doors on June 1, 2002. Joan Kroc was herself a special guest at the opening.
Key components of the compound are an aquatic center complete with water therapy services, a 56-000 square foot fully-equipped gymnasium, the only ice arena in southern San Diego County, a 30-foot tall rock-climbing wall, a 33,000 square foot performing arts center that houses a 600-seat theatre with a motorized orchestra pit, dance studio and orchestra room, an education center, and office space for the Salvation Army. All the facilities are open to members as well as the general public.
Ray and Joan Kroc first met in a piano bar in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1957, where Ray Kroc was working. They kept up a secret relationship until both had divorced from their other spouses, and finally married each other in 1969. For most of her married life, Joan Kroc would devote herself to philanthropic causes in an effort to share the large fortune her husband had amassed over the years. When Joan Kroc died of brain cancer in 2003, she left a $1.5 billion gift to the Salvation Army in order to continue developing branches of the Ray and Joan Kroc Center throughout the U.S.
While she was alive, Joan Kroc diligently did her homework into the Salvation Army. Was this the right organization to partner with she wanted to know. In a few instances, she even went so far as playing the role of a community member in need at various Salvation Army locations in order to asses the quality of their services. She was impressed with what she found.
According to the trust she left behind, all branches of the Ray and Joan Kroc Center are to be highly visible and accessible to particularly lower-income families. They were also instructed to have high quality facilities, with programs that cover education, fitness, arts, and worship. From Atlanta, Georgia, to Salem, Oregon, to Dayton, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan, today there are plans to build a Ray and Joan Kroc Center in every region of the U.S.
Ray and Joan Kroc Center
Like this article? Share it with your friends
The Ray and Joan Kroc Center is just one of the many philanthropic ventures spearheaded by the wife of the McDonald’s founder. Located in Ronaldo, San Diego, the Ray and Joan Kroc Center is a 12.4-acre center designed to support families, education, recreation and cultural arts.
When the McDonald’s founder passed away in 1984, he left behind his billion dollar fortune to his third wife, Joan Beverly Kroc. Four years later, she donated $87 million of the fortune she had inherited from her late billionaire husband to the Salvation Army. $47 million of this gift was meant to build and equip this Center, while the other $40 million was placed into an endowment to help subsidize its operating budget. It was four years in the making, and took over 350 volunteers to put together and plan, but it finally opened its doors on June 1, 2002. Joan Kroc was herself a special guest at the opening.
Key components of the compound are an aquatic center complete with water therapy services, a 56-000 square foot fully-equipped gymnasium, the only ice arena in southern San Diego County, a 30-foot tall rock-climbing wall, a 33,000 square foot performing arts center that houses a 600-seat theatre with a motorized orchestra pit, dance studio and orchestra room, an education center, and office space for the Salvation Army. All the facilities are open to members as well as the general public.
Ray and Joan Kroc first met in a piano bar in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1957, where Ray Kroc was working. They kept up a secret relationship until both had divorced from their other spouses, and finally married each other in 1969. For most of her married life, Joan Kroc would devote herself to philanthropic causes in an effort to share the large fortune her husband had amassed over the years. When Joan Kroc died of brain cancer in 2003, she left a $1.5 billion gift to the Salvation Army in order to continue developing branches of the Ray and Joan Kroc Center throughout the U.S.
While she was alive, Joan Kroc diligently did her homework into the Salvation Army. Was this the right organization to partner with she wanted to know. In a few instances, she even went so far as playing the role of a community member in need at various Salvation Army locations in order to asses the quality of their services. She was impressed with what she found.
According to the trust she left behind, all branches of the Ray and Joan Kroc Center are to be highly visible and accessible to particularly lower-income families. They were also instructed to have high quality facilities, with programs that cover education, fitness, arts, and worship. From Atlanta, Georgia, to Salem, Oregon, to Dayton, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan, today there are plans to build a Ray and Joan Kroc Center in every region of the U.S.
Ray and Joan Kroc Center
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 | ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
 |
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
 |
 Boomers & Zoomers 3 Networking Skills NichePreneur Mindset Coaching System Testing and Measuring |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 SEO Posts - 2008
Top SEO Posts of the Year | |
 |
Top 50 Marketing Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||