Milton Hershey was born on September 13, 1857 in rural Pennsylvania. His father was a dreamer that lacked persistence. Whenever one of his projects failed, he would move to another city and start another business. These constant moves interfered with the boy’s studies, as so he dropped out of school during his primary years. But his mother had a positive influence on him, and taught him the importance of tithing, obeying God and persistence.

After working as an employee, Milton decided he wanted to go into business and invested in a candy factory. The business failed. He tried again but the company went broke once again. With no money and no credibility, he refused to give up. He remembered what he had learned from his mother and insisted on seeing his dream come true. The next time he tried, he arranged good contracts and prospered. While visiting the Columbian World Expo of 1893, he saw a German made machine for making chocolate making. He was fascinated with it, bought it and started to make chocolate toppings for the caramel candy his company made.

After this success, Milton had the idea to manufacture milk chocolate bars. There was one small problem: few people knew how. At the time milk chocolate was an expensive luxury made in Switzerland, and the formula was a secret. Hershey did not shy away; he was determined to find a way to popularize this delicacy. It seemed impossible, but his determination made success inevitable. Without his trial and error efforts, few would have ever tried this wonder.

Milton sold his candy factory and built the Hershey’s chocolate factory in the town where he was born, surrounded by dairy farms. When he got married, Catherine (Kitty) became a great travel companion and shared in his dreams and projects. They had no children, so Kitty built a school for orphans, providing a future for those who had no parents. Since he had never been able to finish school himself, he embraced the idea with enthusiasm.

Unlike most of the businessmen of his time, Milton understood that employees with a good quality of life worked better. So he built them a city with banks, stores, homes, schools, parks and even a zoo. Upon the death of Kitty, Hershey decided to donate his fortune to the charitable projects they had worked on together, and continued to work on their dream of helping the underprivileged.

During the Great Depression Hershey thrived and not only avoided layoffs, but even hired employees and helped to increase the self-esteem of those who were already working for him. He became known for putting product quality and the welfare of his employees ahead of profit and has become the greatest chocolate manufacturer in the world. Today, the company is controlled by the Hershey Foundation and continues to support the school, which has grown and offers free education, job training, housing, clothing, food, healthcare and counseling to more than 1,100 boys and girls. The city of Hershey continues to be a tourist attraction and Milton is viewed as an example of perseverance, honesty and values, and a man with a deep love for others.

An interesting fact: During one of his trips to Europe Hershey bought a ticket for the first voyage of an amazing passenger ship. However, on April 1912, on the day the ship was to set sail, Kitty got sick and Milton canceled the trip. It was the Titanic, and Hershey was saved from one of the greatest tragedies of the early twentieth century. Considered a lucky man by many, Hershey knew that he had God’s protection because of his faithfulness.

Vanessa Lampert