DETROIT (AP) The Salvation Army has announced plans for a $98 million community center project, with $50 million in help from the estate of the late McDonald’s Corp. Heiress Joan Kroc.
The charity’s eastern Michigan division said that it has received a $50 million Kroc Challenge Grant. The money will go to “build and endow a Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center on Detroit’s east side,” it said in a news release.
The group said it must raise a matching $48 million before starting construction.
“The gift from the estate of Joan Kroc represents an unprecedented opportunity for the Salvation Army to develop innovative new programming focused on positive outcomes at a time when the city of Detroit needs them most,” Salvation Army Major Norman Marshall said.
Joan Kroc was the wife of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc. She donated $1.6 billion to the Salvation Army when she died in 2003. The money was designated for construction and endowment of community centers nationwide, the Salvation Army said.
The 100,000-sq.-ft. (9,290 sq m) Detroit center will go up on 30 acres of land in the city’s Chandler Park, the Salvation Army said.
