Signal Tribune Newspaper

BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer

Things looked good for the planned Long Beach Salvation Army Kroc Center last week. NFL linebacker Willie McGinest and hip-hop recording artist Snoop Dogg announced they would help raise some of the additional $25 million necessary to make the project a reality. Supporters of the project hope the 19-acre Hamilton Bowl site at Walnut Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway will become a 168,000-square-foot family support, education, recreation and cultural arts center in the area sandwiched between Long Beach City College and the Signal Hill boundary line.
Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald’s restaurants founder Ray Kroc, bequeathed $1.5 billion to the Salvation Army to develop Kroc Centers in 29 cities throughout the United States. The Kroc Fund she established includes $80 million for the Long Beach center. Another $20 million for the project will come from The Salvation Army’s local reserves. However, before the $80 million from the Kroc Fund can be transferred to the local Salvation Army, project supporters must raise an additional $25 million from charitable contributions. Early this year, Signal Hill Petroleum made a large donation to the project, but since then, because of the sluggish economy, contributions have fallen short of the Salvation Army’s expectations.
When 6th District Councilman Dee Andrews found out about the shortfall in donations, he asked McGinest and Snoop Dogg to help. They both enthusiastically agreed. On June 17, the three men held a press conference at Ristorante daVinci in hopes of inspiring more people to contribute their time and money to the project.
“My mission is to make sure the Kroc Center reflects all aspects of our community that are important,” Andrews said. “The Kroc Center is a place of hope for all.”
Andrews noted that Long Beach Polytechnic High School (Poly) has one of the best athletic programs in the nation, and no other high school has as many of its students recruited by professional sports teams. Andrews added that Poly will be able to host its home games at the Kroc Center.
“My call is for all Poly graduates to come home and help build this center,” he said. “The first large step starts with the help of Snoop Dogg and Willie McGinest. We are all alumni of Poly.”
McGinest is a former USC All-American and three-time NFL Super Bowl champion. He played for the New England Patriots and is now a linebacker with the Cleveland Browns. “Snoop and I grew up in the 6th District,” he said. “To see something like this presented is like a dream come true for kids like us.”
He explained that the youth of the inner city do not have facilities that even come close to the magnitude of the planned Kroc Center. “Our community is definitely underserved, and the kids in this community deserve something like this,” he added. “It will save lives and give kids hope and opportunity.”
McGinest somberly informed the audience that much of central Long Beach is like a war zone where drugs and gangs are destroying many young lives. He said the Kroc Center would give local young people wholesome alternatives to destructive lifestyles and put them on the path to meaningful, fulfilling, successful lives.
McGinest pledged that he would devote much of his time and energy to convince fellow professional athletes– especially those who are Poly alumni– to contribute money to the project and to support it in other ways.
Snoop Dogg said he is always looking for ways to help the community in which he was raised and supporting the Kroc Center is a good way to do that. “This is something that is so special and so positive and so right. I have always been with this,” he stressed. “Now we have people coming together to try to give these kids something to look forward to, and I am honored to be part of it.”
Snoop Dogg has pledged to create a music single with other performers who will describe their experience in Long Beach and explain how the Kroc Center will be a beacon of hope for young people. Proceeds from the recording will go to the Kroc Center as will the money raised at one of his upcoming concerts.
Snoop Dogg added that, since he grew up in the 6th District, he is very familiar with the struggles faced by young people who live there. He added that the center would help them overcome obstacles to living productive lives. “The kids should be honored to have something like the Kroc Center, and we stand firm behind it,” he said.
Andrews said he is fully committed to the project. “I ask everyone to ask themselves ‘What can I do to help?’” he said. “Dig deep in your pockets, or contacts, or ideas and help make this dream a reality.”

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