Kroc History:
Joan and Ray were long-time supporters of The Salvation Army. For two decades, Ray Kroc volunteered as a bell ringer, and would deliver hot coffee and hamburgers from his Golden Arches restaurant to The Salvation Army bell ringers along Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. As a child, Joan Kroc heard her family talk about the wonderful work The Salvation Army had done to help people during the depression. Mrs. Kroc was so moved by the words of her family that, as an adult, she resolved to help The Salvation Army. In the 1990s she donated more than $90 million to establish the first Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in San Diego. That center opened in 2002 and has had a wonderful impact on the surrounding community.
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Joan Kroc
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In 2004, the national office of The Salvation Army was astounded to learn it had received a gift in excess of $1.5 billion from the estate of Joan Kroc, wife of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc. This gift will be used exclusively to build and partially endow approximately 25 - 30 community centers across the United States - similar in concept to the existing Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in San Diego.
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