AUSTRALIA/UNITED STATES
lewisblayse.net
Watch out YMCA, the Salvation Army is moving in. Salvation Army “Kroc Centers” are being built all over the U.S. They are named in honour of the founder of McDonalds restaurants, Ray Kroc, and some of the money for them came from the Joan Kroc bequest (see previous posting).
The centers have swimming pools, gyms, basketball courts, artificial rock climbing, ovals etc. They have many children’s programs, ranging from birthday parties, to after-school supervision, and in some cases, school holiday programs.
Most of the centers cost between $100 million to $200 million to build. All up, the 50 or so centers cost somewhere over $5 billion. That would provide a lot of meals in soup kitchens.
The idea was to provide fitness and child care facilities for underprivileged neighbourhoods. However, not many of them would be able to afford the fees. For example, the Coeur d’Alene center offers personal fitness coaching for $30 per half hour. The Boston center’s fitness membership is $660 per years plus a $50 joining fee.
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