The Money Trail: Grand Rapids Kroc Center

The original Kroc award to Grand Rapids was $30 million. After the Salvation Army successfully raised the required $7.5 million in local dollars—matching half the $15 million endowment required, the Grand Rapids Salvation Army leaders got good news and bad news out of their national headquarters in Chicago.

The good news is that the late Joan Kroc’s grant money to Grand Rapids increased from $30 million to $41.5 million. The bad news is that in order to receive the extra money, the Army has to go back to the community asking for $2.5 million more matching dollars. That final campaign will begin in 2009.

The Grand Rapids Center, scheduled to open in 2010, is one of the first in the country to begin construction. The 90,000 square-foot Kroc Center will house an aquatic center—including a pool, lazy river and water park, a gym, fitness center, health clinic, performing arts and worship auditorium, outdoor playing fields, walking trails, and a winter ice rink.

Over 11,000 children under 17 live within walking distance of the Center, and those numbers are growing.

Pictured above - Robert Israels, Salvation Army Advisory Board, Rev. Dr. Rik Stevenson, chair of the Kroc Center Council, Commissioner Barry Swanson, territorial commander, USA Central Territory, and Jaylen Jennings, Kroc Leadership Academy, break dirt to begin construction of the $56 Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center at 2500 South Division.

Read more about Ray and Joan Kroc Center at www.kroccenter.org

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