September 14, 2026
Each September, our company and the town of Hershey celebrate the birthday of Milton Hershey, honoring a legacy he set in motion more than 130 years ago: the belief that business could be a force for good. Today, that belief carries forward through more than 18,000 employees who deliver not just the treats Hershey is known for, but also the community impact that has defined our company from the start.
A Legacy Rooted in Service
That belief takes tangible shape in Good to Give Back Month, our company's global month of service. Built on the corporate values that have guided Hershey for generations—togetherness, integrity, making a difference, and excellence—Good to Give Back Month unites employees around the world to support their local communities through volunteer service.
It is, in many ways, the same spirit of service that led Milton and his wife Katherine, "Kitty," to found the community of Hershey and the Milton Hershey School more than a century ago. The couple’s commitment to building a thriving community and ensuring the well-being of children lives on through our corporate philanthropy efforts and employee volunteerism programs including Good to Give Back Month.
As a company, we’ve built an intentional culture of giving back year-round by providing employees with two days of paid time off to volunteer each year and a generous matching gift program that amplifies employees’ generosity. Our leaders regularly incorporate volunteer service activities into their department retreats and gatherings. Employees lead fundraising events together to champion the causes they care deeply about. They serve as coaches, mentors, troop leaders, and clean-up organizers year-round.
We also come together every summer for Good to Give Back Month. What began as a single week of service more than a decade ago has since grown into a full month of making a difference across our communities, giving employees more time and flexibility to make an impact and more ways to give back. This year, more than 800 employees logged 3,100 volunteer hours across over 70 opportunities worldwide, packing meals, restoring green spaces, mentoring young people and addressing needs from hunger relief to youth education. Our impact extends well past the projects themselves: post-volunteerism surveys consistently show employees leaving with an even stronger sense of pride in Hershey and a deeper connection to both their communities and each other.
Rise Against Hunger: A Signature Good to Give Back Month moment
The centerpiece of this year's Good to Give Back Month was the return of Hershey's signature meal-packing event with Rise Against Hunger. In under two hours, 600 employee volunteers came together with students from Milton Hershey School and a team of leaders from The Hershey Trust to pack more than 150,000 meals to help fight food insecurity.
Since 2015, The Hershey Company and Rise Against Hunger have hosted over 20 meal packing events, engaged more than 5,000 employee volunteers, and packed over 2 million meals.
“We sincerely appreciate Hershey's partnership and the opportunity to serve alongside such an engaged and enthusiastic group of employees,” said Stone Powell-McDevitt, Area Manager for Rise Against Hunger. “The energy and commitment your employees brought to the event made it a memorable experience for everyone involved.”
"I'm surely not the only one who woke up this morning with a bit of a stiff back," said Stephen Crozier, Manager of R&D Partnerships. "But aside from that, I felt fantastic and energized. I've been part of several Rise Against Hunger events, and it continues to be my favorite day of the year at Hershey."
A Philanthropic Legacy Recognized, On Screen and Beyond
Our unique culture of service and philanthropy hasn't gone unnoticed. Points of Light recently named Hershey a Civic 50 Honoree and Consumer Staples Sector Leader for its community engagement, employee volunteerism and social impact, marking the 13th time the company has earned the distinction.
The recognition arrives just as Milton Hershey's story is about to reach a much wider audience. This November, the film HERSHEY brings his journey to the big screen: a story of repeated business failures turned global chocolate empire, anchored by his partnership with Kitty, their shared dream of creating a thriving community, and their decision to leave their fortune to the Milton Hershey School they built together.
As we celebrate the 169th birthday of Mr. Hershey, we’re reflecting not only on his enduring belief that business can and should be a force for good but the bold actions he took to prove it. More than a century later, that conviction still shapes how Hershey shows up in the world, guiding a philanthropy strategy that invests in communities and children and a culture that encourages our employees to carry that vision forward through service, every summer during Good to Give Back Month and all year long.
Katrina Briddell is Senior Manager of Corporate Philanthropy & Social Impact at The Hershey Company, where she has led the company’s philanthropy strategy and employee impact programs for a decade. Her expertise spans strategic philanthropy, purpose-driven partnerships, youth well-being, social impact, and authentic cause marketing.