Born into the Mennonite community and growing up speaking Pennsylvania Dutch, M.S. Hershey spent his early life helping out on the family farm and learning the value of hard work. While he had limited formal education, Hershey eventually grew-up to become an adolescent apprentice to a local printer—however, after getting fired, his mother arranged for the 14-year-old to start a new apprenticeship with a confectioner named Joseph Royer.
This sparked the beginning of what would become a lifelong passion for M.S. Hershey, and after four years of apprenticing, he started his first confectionery business in Philadelphia in 1876. After a few failed attempts at entrepreneurship, Hershey moved back to Lancaster, PA in 1883 to start the Lancaster Caramel Company—which was eventually sold for one-million dollars to fund the founding of the Hershey Chocolate Company.
Milton Hershey’s Passion for Giving Back to the Community
As a young man, Milton Hershey wrote, “One is only happy in proportion as he makes others feel happy”, and it was that far-reaching view of spreading joy that led to his legacy of generous philanthropy. While the Hershey Chocolate Company would go on to become one of the most successful confectionery companies in history, Hershey wanted to do more to give back to the local community.
In 1935, he established The M.S. Hershey Foundation, which exists as a private charity to provide educational and cultural opportunities for local residents. The Foundation supports:
- The Hershey Story Museum
- Hershey Gardens
- The Hershey Theatre
- Hershey Community Archives
Additionally, he established the Milton Hershey School in 1909—a school for financially needy orphans in grades kindergarten through high school that still operates today. Hershey endowed the school with his entire fortune of Hershey Chocolate Company stock. His philanthropy also enabled all of these schools and attractions to continue to exist and thrive all these years later.
Building the Future through a Commitment to Old-Fashioned Values
Milton S. Hershey was truly one of a kind, and made the town of Hershey the great community it is today. As part of a forward-looking group of entrepreneurs, he believed in providing better living conditions for workers and building a community that would support the local workforce. This lifelong commitment to the Hershey community continues today with the evolution of the area, and O’Brien’s Moving & Storage is proud to serve the region that M.S. Hershey loved with premier moving and storage services.
As part of the Eastern Pennsylvania’s local community for generations, we have been around to watch as the region has grown, thrived, and come together as a peaceful and profitable family-oriented area. With our status as an award-winning Allied Van Lines’ agent, we are able to offer moving and storage solutions built around the unique needs of our customers, making our Hershey long distance moving company the first choice for helping you relocate easily within the area or across the country.
Making a Difference for Hershey Residents—One Move at a Time!
Over the years that O’Brien’s has been in business, our experienced Hershey long distance movers have built a reputation for providing the best in personalized care, hard work, and quality service—something that we think Milton S. Hershey would be proud of. To learn more about the interstate moving services we offer in and around Hershey, just give us a call or fill out our online form today
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