"Nourishing Minds."

For many, The Hershey Company means only one thing: great-tasting snacks, including its world-famous chocolate. A lesser known fact about Hershey is the company’s long tradition of giving back to the community, starting with the Milton Hershey School founded in 1909. Before he died, Milton Hershey gave away his fortune to fund the Milton Hershey School into perpetuity, and today, it serves more than 2,000 children who come from backgrounds of significant financial and social risk.

In recent years, The Hershey Company expanded their social responsibility programs beyond education to include nutrition, engaging their employees’ business capabilities and expertise to make a bigger impact. This evolution brought them to the intersection between education and nutrition  recognizing that children who are hungry can’t focus in class, and they lack nutrients for development and success. So the company started their Nourishing Minds initiative, which puts  their global commitment to nutrition into action. Joining Partners in Food Solutions was a natural extension of this program.

Partners in Food Solutions is unique among the Nourishing Minds initiatives in that it is a skill-based volunteer model. The Hershey Company sees this as a strong way to engage their staff, particularly the younger generations, in a meaningful and rewarding way to support a cause. Partnering with PFS also provides many opportunities for talent development, including insight and exposure to emerging markets, practice leading virtual teams and the challenge of innovating amidst resource constraints.

In addition to their work with Partners in Food Solutions, other projects of Nourishing Minds include creating a nutritional supplement called Vivi for a school nutrition program in Ghana and improving nutrition among children in rural China . Nourishing Minds also supports programs in North America, like Feeding America and Food Banks Canada.