Majors Lolita & Richard Sanchez
Kroc Center Administrators/Pastors
Major Lolita Sanchez was commissioned as a Salvation Army officer in 1999. She has been serving as a full-time officer/pastor for 24 years. She entered the SA seminary/training college in 1997 at the age of 22 along with her husband, Richard, and their daughter Alexandra. After graduating in 1999, they arrived at their first appointment in Dover NJ. They successfully transitioned the dwindling English-only corps (church) to a bilingual corps while they were concurrently learning Spanish. Each of their parents were born in Puerto Rico but spoke only English once migrated from the island. They quickly learned that ministry requires more than what you have, and God provides the rest.
Majors Sanchez have been the administrators/pastors at six corps over the years (Dover, NJ; Dunkirk, NY; Waltham, MA; Riverhead, NY; East Northport, NY; Salem, MA) and spent two years at Territorial Headquarters in West Nyack, NY. Their latest and (soon to be) favorite appointment is as the Kroc Administrators in Camden, NJ!
Major Lolita focused on growing her family and ministry. She and her husband had two more children, Cristina and Jason. In 2017, she decided to go back to school and finish the Bachelor’s degree she began after high school. It was a lifelong goal to be the second in her family to complete a degree of higher education. She now has her Bachelor’s degree in Ministry Management from Asbury University. She had even begun a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Salem State University. Up until last year, each of her family members were in school: Major Richard completing a Master's degree in IO Psychology, Alexandra starting her first year at New Jersey Medical School, Cristina finishing her bachelor's degree at UMASS Boston and Jason in 11th grade.
Organizing, planning and follow-through are a few of Major Lola’s core strengths. She has used these skills to manage budgets, plan community events and provide consistency to our staff, congregation and community members. In each appointment and in life, the Majors Sanchez strive to shine God’s love to all we meet. She and Major Richard are excited to partner with the Kroc family in Camden to continue God’s work.
Major Richard Sanchez was commissioned as a Salvation Army officer in 1999. He has served throughout the northeastern United States in eight appointments, most recently appointed as the Kroc Administrator in Camden, NJ!
As a traveling, ordained minister, Major Sanchez has had the opportunity of serving many cultures, nationalities, generations, and communities. Services he supported and started over his tenure include: Food Pantries, Soup Kitchens, Emergency Disaster Services, Youth & Senior Camps, After-School Programs, Financial Assistance Services, Rehabilitation Centers, and more.
Major Sanchez is studying organizational psychology and working in an international organization, he has examined performance, motivation, discipline, and burnout from both an academic and experiential perspective. Organizational psychology research enables Major Sanchez to implement theory and practice for the well-being and improvement of both the organization and its employees. At the Camden Kroc Center, he looks forward to serving both the community and employees with his experience, training, and gifts.
Major has a passion for learning and implementing new strategies for problems that historically may have only been approached via one paradigm or discipline, a multidisciplinary solution is increasingly the answer to more complex and multidisciplinary challenges.
With his wife, Major Lola, he has three wonderful children, two daughters and a son. His oldest daughter is in her first year of Rutgers medical school, his middle daughter is finishing her Bachelor's at U Mass Boston. His son starts his last year of high school at Cherry Hill HS West.
