WROR Promotion Raises $40K for Salvation Army

WROR Promotion Raises $40K for Salvation Army

105.7's Loren & Wally help bring Boston Kroc Center within Reach

BOSTON, March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- A two-week long promotion featuring 105.7 WROR's hit duo Loren & Wally has raised more than $40,000 to benefit The Salvation Army and the Boston Kroc Corps Community Center. The planned 90,000 square foot educational, athletic and job training facility, slated for the Uphams-Dudley section of Roxbury and Dorchester faces a critical April 1st fundraising deadline to begin construction this summer.

"The dedication and passion Loren and Wally have shown to The Salvation Army and to the Boston Kroc Center project is truly amazing," said Major William Bode, Divisional Commander of The Salvation Army's Massachusetts Division. "The Salvation Army's mission is to aid all those in need, and thanks to the commitment and hard work of WROR and Greater Media, as well as the generosity of their listeners, we are one step closer to bringing the Boston Kroc Center - and all of the educational and health benefits it will provide - to fruition."

As part of WROR's promotion, listeners had the opportunity to become a lifelong part of the Kroc Center with the purchase of an official Kroc center paver for $105, which will be engraved with a personalized message and permanently embedded on the path leading to the facility. More than 385 bricks were sold over the two-week period. Loren and Wally also appeared in person at the South Shore Plaza to promote the Boston Kroc Center and to sign copies of WROR's hit Tom Doyle Townie Tunes CD.

During the promotion, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, honorary chair of the Kroc Center Leadership Gift Committee, called WROR to speak about the vast impact the Boston Kroc Center will have on the lives of the tens of thousands of people who live in the Uphams-Dudley area. The Salvation Army plans to build 30 state-of-the-art Kroc Centers across the nation, and Boston has been chosen as the only New England site.

Other callers included Sovereign Bank New England and Kroc Center Leadership Gift Committee Chairman John Hamill, who discussed the critical education, job training, arts and fitness opportunities the Boston Kroc Center will create. Local residents whose lives have been touched by The Salvation Army also filled the airwaves to speak about their experiences and to express gratitude for the critical assistance the organization provided.

"The Salvation Army works tirelessly every day to help people, and when we heard about this huge opportunity Massachusetts has right now to build a facility that will help thousands and thousands of kids, we really wanted to help," said Loren Owens, co-host of the Loren & Wally Morning Show. "The Boston Kroc Center is that important. We are grateful that our listeners are so fantastic and really stepped up to become a permanent part of this project."

The late Joan Kroc - widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc - bequeathed $1.5 billion to The Salvation Army in 2004 to build the 30 first class community facilities, and Boston was granted an unprecedented lead gift amounting to $85.5 million. With half of Mrs. Kroc's gift allocated for construction and the remainder as an endowment to sustain the long term future of the center, The Salvation Army was left to raise $30 million locally in order to bring the Kroc Corps Community Center to fruition, and is now less than $1 million away from its construction goal.

The Loren & Wally Morning Show runs weekdays 5:30 to 10 am. For more information on the Kroc Center, to purchase a paver or to make a donation, please contact (617) 542-5420, or visit www.boston.salarmykroc.org/ .

About the Boston Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center

The Kroc Corps Community Center is the vision of the late Joan Kroc - widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc - a long-time supporter of The Salvation Army. Mrs. Kroc saw the life-changing impact of the first Center built in San Diego and bequeathed $1.5 billion in 2004 to the Army to establish and maintain 30 similar first-class educational, athletic and spiritual centers across the nation. From that legacy, The Salvation Army's Massachusetts Division was awarded a lead gift amounting to $85.5 million to build and endow a community center in the Uphams-Dudley section of Roxbury and Dorchester - an unprecedented gift and opportunity for a community project in the Boston area. This is the only Kroc Center to be built in the New England region. The Salvation Army was left to raise $30 million locally in order to bring the 90,000 square foot Kroc Center to fruition, and is currently about $1.4 million away from the construction goal. For more information, log onto www.boston.salarmykroc.org/ .

WROR-FM is owned by Greater Boston Radio, Inc., a subsidiary of Greater Media, Inc., the parent company of 23 AM and FM radio stations in the Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, New Jersey and Philadelphia markets. Greater Media also owns a group of weekly newspapers in central New Jersey as well as several telecommunications towers located throughout the United States.

   Media Contact:   Laura Wareck   lwareck@oneillandassoc.com   617-646-1037  

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Greater Media, Inc.

CONTACT: Laura Wareck, +1-617-646-1037, lwareck@oneillandassoc.com

Web Site: http://www.boston.salarmykroc.org/

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Profile: International Entertainment