Monday, February 6 will mark the six month anniversary of the opening of The Salvation Army of Augusta Kroc Center. In the six months since the August 6, 2011 Grand Opening Celebration, the Kroc Center has seen thousands of members of the Greater Augusta Area enjoy the facility’s amenities, programs, events and worship services. On average, over 500 people a day enter the doors of the Kroc Center in order to better their lives.
“I couldn’t be more excited about the positive impact that the Kroc Center has had on the community in its first six months,” says Captain Todd Mason, Salvation Army of Augusta Kroc Center Administrator. “In a given night at the Kroc Center you can see children and adults learning to play piano in the Music Rooms, families have fun in the Aquatics Center, volleyball teams competing in the Gymnasium, boot camp classes working out inside and outside the building, organizations holding catered events in the Banquet Hall, children playing in Child Watch, Zumba class taking place in the Group Fitness Room and The Salvation Army Corps’ Songsters rehearsing in the Worship and Performing Arts Center. Where else can you find all those things taking place under one roof?”
In addition to offering a place for families to bond and for individuals to get fit and explore their artistic skills, the Kroc Center has become one of the most popular places to host events. In the past six months, the Kroc Center has averaged 15 to 18 events a week including over 200 birthday parties. Events at the Kroc Center so far have included conferences, a music festival, sports tournaments, a cooking demonstration, a musical, a dinner theatre, a simulcast, a lock-in, corporate luncheons and weekly worship services and Sunday School with several weddings, a school play, a prom, a health and wellness expo and “Gospel Extravaganza” (where various churches and groups in the Greater Augusta Area will unite for a Christian music festival) taking place in the next few months.
“The Kroc Center is always evolving so in the past six months we’ve added a number of new opportunities to better serve the needs of the community,” says Captain Mason. “Since our opening last summer, we have added one-on-one nutritional counseling to our membership benefits, expanded our group fitness offerings, extended the hours of the Kroc Center Café and made it easier for promising neighborhood children to receive a scholarship, among other improvements. By listening to the feedback of our members and the community, the Kroc Center can continue to embody the excellence that Joan Kroc envisioned.”
For more information about The Salvation Army of Augusta Kroc Center, please contact Anthony Esposito, The Salvation Army of Augusta Community Relations Manager, at 706-922-8338 (desk), 706-421-3047 (cell), or Anthony_Esposito@uss.salvationarmy.org.
