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Social Impact

Sharing Goodness Through Service

Katrina Briddell
Manager, Philanthropy & Community Engagement

Earlier this summer, The Hershey Company launched an updated sustainability strategy, our Shared Goodness Promise. The Shared Goodness Promise focuses on four pillars: operating our business in a way that does well by doing good (Shared Business), helping kids succeed (Shared Futures), caring for our natural environment (Shared Planet) and supporting the places where we live, work and do business (Shared Communities). 

During the week of July 16, more than 1,100 Hershey employees across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates took part in more than 30 distinct service activities in their local communities, logging more than 4,000 volunteer hours.  It was Hershey’s annual Good to Give Back Week, our global week of service.  It’s a time when we are all encouraged to volunteer with NGOs to support our communities. It’s one of many ways we share goodness – and have a lot of fun with our teams in the process

And it doesn’t stop there – other teams around the world have volunteer events planned in late August and September, while an increasing number of Hershey employees offer pro bono business expertise year-round through skills-based volunteering partnerships that build capacity of local NGO’s.  Over the past year, over 30 Hershey employees have provided business planning, strategy, HR, technology, and communications expertise to NGOs in Central Pennsylvania facing rapid growth in their service models.  Additionally, over 50 employees regularly volunteer their expertise by developing the capabilities of food entrepreneurs in West Africa through our partnership with Partners in Food Solutions. 

Our remarkable people bring the Shared Goodness Promise to life every day through their roles—from working to ensure our products offer choice and transparency for consumers, to finding ways to be as efficient as possible with our distribution network, to advancing responsible sourcing practices.  Our employees also bring Hershey’s Shared Goodness Promise to life through their incredible generosity and passion for community volunteerism. In 2017, Hershey employees logged 130,000 volunteer hours, with 30% of our U.S. employees reporting that they volunteer weekly.