Astrup announces $500,000 donation to the new Austin Community Rec Center

Published 9:09 am Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Austin-based Astrup Companies on Wednesday announced it would donate $500,000 to the Austin Community Rec Center project.

“This generous donation from Astrup is just incredible,” said Sandy Anderson, interim director of Vision 2020. “We are moving closer to reaching our fundraising goal every day, and it is gifts like this that are really making a difference.”

The donation is a key contribution to help the approximately 105,000 square foot facility reach its $5 million public fundraising goal. The addition of the Astrup donation brings the total amount raised to about $4 million.

The Astrup family donated $500,000 to the Austin Community Recreation Center, giving a boost to the public fundraising portion of the project. Photo provided

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“I couldn’t be more proud to make this donation, through our Family Foundation, on behalf of our employees,” said Chris Astrup, co-owner of Astrup Companies. “We believe that the Austin Community Rec Center will be a fantastic addition to Austin and the surrounding communities and we wanted to do our part to help bring this vision to reality.”

Sam Ewing, the president of the Sterling Pharmacies, part of the Astrup Companies, said the Astrup family is “deeply rooted in the Austin community” and has been a part of Austin since 1952.

“And we believe in supporting our customers and our employees in ways that promote healthy choices … and this (center) is certainly that,” Ewing said. “A pharmacy is all about health and anything that we can do to help (see the center realized), we want to do.” Ewing added he believed the donation was the largest ever gifted by the family foundation.

The new center will be a year-round facility that will serve as a unique service model of community-based services for everyone in the community and area to meet, exercise and play.

Sam Ewing, president of the Sterling Pharmacies, said he believed the $500,000 donation for the Austin Community Rec Center was among the largest ever given by the Astrup Family Foundation. The donation brings the public fundraising effort to $4 million.
Deb Nicklay/deb.nicklay@austindailyherald.com

The recreation campus will have state-of-the-art fitness facilities such as a family aquatic center, practice facilities and programs supporting healthy living in a safe, affordable environment.

The center will have areas free to the public and areas available for access through a daily or monthly fee, preschool programs and classroom for 120 students and a school age child care program for 150 children.

People are able to donate to the Austin Community Rec Center fund via the Vision 2020 website at www.vision2020austin.com/.

The project has begun and construction is expected to begin in July 2018.