Hershey named amid the US Civic 50 for its pandemic community engagement work
In 2020, Hershey impacted more than 15 million lives with more than $26 million in donations and 60,000 hours in volunteer time. To address the impacts of COVID-19, the company invested over $1 million to produce and donate more than 1.5 million masks for its employees, community nonprofits, healthcare organizations and school districts and provided relief grants to local food banks and nonprofits supporting basic needs.
Hershey has been recognised for its community engagement amid the coronavirus pandemic as among the ‘Civic 50,’ by Points of Light, the world’s largest organisation dedicated to volunteer service, reports Neill Barston.
As the business noted, it has been named as one of the 50 most caring companies for its work with people across the US, and also achieved the accolade of Consumer Staples Sector Leader.
The Civic 50 provides a national standard for corporate citizenship and showcases how companies can use their time, skills and resources to drive social impact in their communities and company.
Those who are honoured with the awards are companies with annual US revenues of at least $1 billion and are selected based on four dimensions of their corporate citizenship and social impact programmes – investment of resources, integration across business functions, institutionalisation through policies and systems and impact measurement.
As the company explained, in 2020, Hershey dedicated time, resources, and money to support various coronavirus relief efforts and racial justice causes. To address the devastating impacts of COVID-19, the company invested over $1 million to produce and donate more than 1.5 million masks for its employees, community nonprofits, healthcare organisations and school districts; provided relief grants to local food banks and nonprofits supporting basic needs; and launched a product-donation care package program for more than 200 hospitals.
In addition, Hershey committed more than $2 million to advance racial equity in the United States through a scholarship endowment with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and support to organisations such as the Equal Justice Initiative.
“In a year of unparalleled challenges, Hershey impacted more than 15 million lives with more than $26 million in donations and 60,000 hours in volunteer time. We harnessed the power of our purpose – to make more moments of goodness – to help our communities recover and revitalise,” said Leigh Horner, Vice President of Corporate Communications and Global Sustainability, The Hershey Company. “Through our holistic sustainability strategy, also known as Hershey’s Shared Goodness Promise, we will continue to invest in our communities by helping create a more resilient supply chain, jobs, supporting children and families, protecting ecosystems and advancing a more inclusive and just society.”
Hershey has received the Civic 50 award every year since it was created in 2012. The Civic 50 has provided a roadmap for good corporate citizenship and showcases how committed companies are moving social impact, civic engagement and community to the centre of their business.
The survey is administered by True Impact, a company specialising in helping organisations maximise and measure their social and business value and consists of quantitative and multiple-choice questions that inform the scoring process. The Civic 50 is the only survey and ranking system that exclusively measures corporate involvement in communities.
