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Chocolatey Goodness

Tim Knight from Slope of Hope's picture




 

With all the grumbling and grousing I do here, I thought I'd share a feel-good story I happened upon last night. It's about the Hershey Company. Specifically, it's about a secret arrangement the founder of the company made to help orphans. As revealed on Wikipedia: (with some boldface emphasis by me):

Unable to have children of his own, Milton S. Hershey founded the Milton Hershey School in 1909 for orphans. In 1918, Milton S. Hershey and his wife, Catherine Hershey, donated all of their considerable wealth, of around 60 million dollars, to the boarding school upon Catherine Hershey's death. The Hershey Trust Company is now the largest shareholder and beneficiary to the School. Before his death, Milton Hershey ensured the school would live on by donating 30% of all future Hershey profits to the school. Due to this generous donation by America's largest chocolate company, MHS now has over 7 billion dollars in assets, making it one of the richest schools in the world. Today, the Milton Hershey School provides free education, health care, counseling and a friendly home to 2000 orphans in financial need.

The school's programs include sports, arts, religious studies, sciences, math, language and many other subjects. School colors are gold and brown. Students must wear a uniform to class provided to them by the School to encourage equality. Their admissions is primarily based on age and financial need for the orphans. The school also provides "House Parents", which are hired couples, paid to take care of and nurture the students. The school's "fellowship" project provides students with Hershey employee visits to build long lasting relationships and provide career counseling. Additionally, the school is located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a city created by Milton Hershey himself. The city offers security, a church, a post office and other services for the students. Many of its designs resemble Hershey chocolate products, such as the Hershey Kisses light posts. Most notably perhaps is the fact that Mr. Milton Hershey prohibited The Hershey Company from using the School as an advertisement or marketing strategy. The school's primary goal is to provide young orphans with the skills necessary to support themselves and their families in the future.

Isn't that cool? Can you imagine, say, Steve Jobs allocating 30% of Apple's profits - - forever - - to a given charitable cause? And, the real kicker - - to expressly forbid the company from exploiting this generosity for marketing or advertising purposes?

Here in Palo Alto, for instance, there is the Ronald McDonald house. It's a very well-funded hospital for very sick children. I think it's terrific that McDonald's funds this (setting aside the fact that the food they've given the country the past fifty years hasn't exactly been a boon for good health), but when I see all the posters of Ronald McDonald given kids with, say, cancer a big Ronald hug, my cynicism meter does go "ping" a bit.

But never did I suspect, with all the Hershey's I've bought over the years to create my award-winning s'mores, that a big chunk of the company's profits during its entire history were causing to this worthy cause. Mr. Hershey must have been a good egg.

 

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Mon, 06/01/2015 - 17:00 | 6153104 DonkeyCoyote
DonkeyCoyote's picture

7 Billion in assets and they are only able to educate 2000 students.   Meanwhile Hershey's chocolate is probably made using child slavery like Nestles choclate.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:10 | 6152904 Kprime
Kprime's picture

Thanks Tim, I appreciated learning that.

 

It just shows how far we have fallen from the quality line of people our forefathers were. Now this country has a government, a corporate elite, and a population infested with self serving rats. Extermination is in order.  At the very least a massive die off due to the fact they have overrun their food supply (tax paying workers).

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:47 | 6152827 Nobody For President
Nobody For President's picture

Stewart Brand's laws of money: (After the sucess of the Whole Earth Foundation:)

It is very difficult to do good with other peoples money,

It is very difficult to do good with money.

It is very difficult...

Hershey did OK.

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:29 | 6152983 TIMBO Anti-Castro
TIMBO Anti-Castro's picture

I don;t know Stwart but accroding to this he would be wrong.

For profit, entreprenuers who practice capitlism(mutal exchange of value for benefit) do great things with money all the time.  They employ people, invest in the community and the well being of future generations either through out right philanhtropy or simply by innovation/creation which equals increased wealth for all. 

 

The formula is really quite simple and unfortunately really quite simple to distort.  Those distrotions are what the sheep lap up with envious fervor. 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:39 | 6152784 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

It's not government underwritten or authorized, hence it must be evil.....

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:37 | 6152771 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Great contrast with the Clinton "Charitable Trust",

  but then anything legit would be.

                      Thanx Tim. 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 15:52 | 6152850 Tim Knight from...
Tim Knight from Slope of Hope's picture

You are suggesting Hillary isn't doing God's work? 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:25 | 6152969 TIMBO Anti-Castro
TIMBO Anti-Castro's picture

Hillary is doing the work of whomever bribes her.  So goes the rest of poloticians. 

Mon, 06/01/2015 - 16:16 | 6152931 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Hmmm.

Pretty sure she will do the Lloyd's work, given the chance.

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