Joan Kroc's $1.8 Billion Gift Transforms 26 Low-Income Communities with State-of-the-Art Recreation Centers

20 years on, over 3 million people served annually through various programs at the Kroc Centers; $900 million endowment funding ballooned to nearly the original gift size, $1.5 billion.

Joan Kroc, the McDonald's heiress, left roughly half of her fortune, $1.8 billion (equivalent to $2.9 billion in today's dollars), to the Salvation Army to create state-of-the-art recreation centers in low-income communities across the U.S.
20 years later, 26 Kroc Centers have opened across different locations including Ashland, Ohio; Guayama, Puerto Rico; and Quincy, Illinois, serving more than 3 million people annually through various programs.
The centers offer a wide array of services including Kroc fitness centers, job training programs, theatrical performances, afterschool services; with some centers featuring specialist programs such as financial literacy courses, culinary arts programs and providing office space for nonprofits.
Kroc's bequest was split equally among Salvation Army's four U.S. territories, with half allocated for the construction of recreation centers and the other half going into endowments for their support; none of the money was allowed to be used for existing programs or building conversions.
The $900 million endowment funding specified by Kroc has grown to nearly the size of the original gift, around $1.5 billion.