The Milton Hershey School, located, as you might guess, in Hershey, PA, is celebrating a very special anniversary this year. For 100 years, the school, originally an orphanage, has been providing children with educational and life opportunities that have made a huge difference in their lives. Today, the Milton Hershey School is much more than an orphanage.
A little bit of history of the founding of the school, in 1909, from the “Our Heritage” historical timeline:
Deed of Trust is signed in New York City to create Hershey Industrial School. Milton Hershey and his wife Catherine established a boarding school for orphan boys to be located at the Homestead, Milton Hershey’s birthplace. In 1918, Milton Hershey placed $60 million dollars (his entire fortune) in Trust for the School. In 1951 the Hershey Industrial School changed its name to the Milton Hershey School.
This is incredible. Think about the endowment you could establish today with that much money. But in today’s dollars, that $60 million is roughly equivalent to $858 million, according to the consumer price index. That amount of money is staggering, especially considering that it was his entire fortune he set aside for the school. That type of giving is something rare, something very special.
Today we are 52 days away from the official anniversary. In conjunction with the anniversary, the school is setting itself an ambitious goal. It plans to expand from 1800 students to 2100, which means adding or expanding facilities in a very dramatic way. In addition, Hershey is currently looking for students and staff as well!
You will see a few more posts on the Milton Hershey School as our countdown continues. In the meantime, go to the school’s site and read about the good work they do. Hershey is known for fun and games but there is another side to the company – a heritage of education and giving for the good of society.
