Kroc Center Hawaii
Located on 15 acres of land in Kapolei, the 200,000 square-foot Kroc Center is the largest community center of its kind in Hawaii. It is a place where people young and old have opportunities to learn and grow, to build confidence and hope.
The Kroc Center includes the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Education & Resource Center with conference and banquet rooms for 720 guests; the Mary D. and Walter F. Frear Early Education Center for 120 preschool students; the 500-seat Jack & Marie Lord Worship & Performing Arts Center; the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Center with an NCAA-regulation gymnasium; the First Hawaiian Hale 40-bed dormitory for traveling teams and overnight conferences; a state-of-the-art Health & Wellness Center with workout equipment and facilities for individual and group fitness; an Aquatics Center featuring a competition pool and a recreation pool with giant water slides; and a 3-acre multipurpose field for outdoor programs.
Development of the Kroc Center was made possible by a $110 million combined capital and endowment grant from a bequest to The Salvation Army by the late Mrs. Joan Kroc, widow of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc. As a condition to the significant Kroc grant, the community also raised nearly $23 million locally, bringing the project to $133 million.
Construction of Kroc Center Hawaii began on April 15, 2010 and opened February 2012.
The Salvation Army Mission
The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.
Joan Kroc’s Dream
If you’ve ever eaten at a McDonald’s restaurant, you were indirectly supporting a number of charities like The Salvation Army, the Ronald McDonald House and St. Vincent de Paul. That’s because McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc and his wife, Joan, were generous philanthropists.
After Ray passed away in 1984, Joan carried forth the tradition, often being called “St. Joan of the Arches.” Yet many of her contributions went unnoticed during her lifetime because Joan often requested that her name not be revealed to the organizations she supported.
However, her affinity for The Salvation Army was no secret. In 1998, Joan announced that she was donating $80 million for the building of the first Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, to be located in a beleaguered midcity neighborhood in San Diego. Her vision was to create a place where all people, regardless of social status, had access to a world-class recreational, educational and cultural arts facility.
At the San Diego Kroc Center’s grand opening celebration in June 2002, she expressed her desire that “tens of thousands of children” would be able to enjoy the facility in the coming years. Speaking directly to the youth in the audience, Joan expressed the hope that their hearts would never become hardened by intolerance. “You’re what the world is banking on,” she concluded. The center sits on 12 acres and offers an ice arena, gymnasium, three pools, rock climbing walls, a performing arts theatre, an internet-based library, computer lab, and a school of visual and performing arts.
When Mrs. Kroc passed away in October 2003, she left $1.5 billion – much of her estate – to The Salvation Army, by far the largest charitable gift ever given to The Army, and the largest single gift given to any charity at one time. The initial disbursements of this bequest began in January 2005. The gift had by then grown to $1.8 billion and was split evenly among the four Army Territories – Central, East, South and West. The money was designated to build a series of state-of-the-art Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Centers nationwide patterned after the San Diego center.