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The Salvation Army broke ground Wednesday for the development of the first Kroc Community Center in San Francisco, one of 30 to 40 locations where the center will be set up throughout the nation.
At the request of the late Joan Kroc, wife of McDonald's Corp. founder Ray A. Kroc, the Army received an approximately $1.5 billion gift for the sole purpose of building Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Centers to serve communities without access to resources and opportunities. The groundbreaking ceremony in San Francisco celebrated the Army's Tenderloin Housing and Kroc Community Center - a $52.6 million project expected to be completed in July 2008.
"I can't imagine a better project for the Tenderloin to meet the needs of the neighborhood and San Francisco," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom who attended the celebration along with other community partners. "This is as good as it gets."
The Salvation Army in San Francisco built its community center at 240 Turk Street shortly after the 1906 earthquake. It later bought the center in 1979. The Kroc center is the largest redevelopment project undertaken by the Army in San Francisco in its more than 120-year history in the city.
"This is the beginning of a new era for The Salvation Army in San Francisco," said Major Joe Posillico, divisional commander for the Army in the area, in a written statement. "With this new community center, we plan to expand our work in the Tenderloin community."
The contributed $1.5 billion sum by Joan Kroc is the largest single donation ever given to a non-profit in the United States. It was given in 2004 for the development of community centers much like the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in San Diego, which was completed in 1998.
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"It is exciting to see Mrs. Kroc’s wishes take shape in this first groundbreaking,” said Major George Hood, National Community Relations Secretary for The Salvation Army. "Her amazing generosity to The Salvation Army will change the lives of millions of children and adults throughout the United States for years to come."
Developmental plans for the first of the community centers include 110 new units of transitional and permanent housing, a new youth center expected to serve around 2,000 youth annually, a new public swimming pool, nutritional and social programs for seniors and a worship center.
"With the community’s support, The Salvation Army is giving hope to a neighborhood brimming with children desperately in need of safe and healthy nurturing as well as better reaching an ever growing population of at-risk adults who require help daily," commented Rick Osgood, San Francisco Salvation Army Advisory Board Chairman.
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