They had a choice. They could become bitter, or they could become better. They became better. Born a hundred years apart, the legacy of one opened the door of opportunity for the other.
Milton Hershey was born in 1857 in Derry Township, Pa. He dropped out of school at age 12, due to his family’s frequent moves. Hershey became an apprentice, first to a printer, then to a candy and ice cream maker. After his apprenticeship, Hershey went out and started his own candy business.
He failed miserably. Twice. At age 30, after business failures in Philadelphia and New York City, he went back to Lancaster and started the Lancaster Caramel Company. This time he was a success. Seeing the growing demand for chocolate, he started the Hershey Chocolate Company. After years of trial and error, he developed the right formula of milk, sugar and cocoa that led to the Hershey bar.
In 1900, Milton Hershey sold the caramel company for $1 million in order to concentrate on making chocolate. He bought land and moved the business to Derry Township, where he was born. He not only built a company there, but also built a town, which would later become known as Hershey. Not your typical “company” town of that era, Milton Hershey believed in providing for the needs of his employees, with schools, parks, and housing.
In 1898, at the age of 41, Hershey had married Catherine Sweeney. They were unable to have any children. It is felt that this is the reason that they decided to use their wealth to start a school for orphaned boys. It was then they started the Hershey Industrial School, which is now known as the Milton Hershey School.
We toured Milton Hershey School Founder’s Hall while on a bus trip several years ago. It’s a beautiful place and the children there get a first class education. According to their website, the Milton Hershey School “serves children in financial and social need by providing them education, housing, food, medical and psychological health care, recreation opportunities, and clothing with no financial obligation to the family.” The over 1,800 students, boys and girls, now attending are a far cry from the 10 boys who attended when the school started in 1909.
The school is the county’s largest pre-kindergarten through grade 12 home and school for boys and girls from families of low income and social need. It looked like a small, expensive private college to me. In 1909, Milton Hershey created the Milton Hershey Trust to fund the school and 1918 Hershey transferred the majority of his assets, including control of the company to the Trust. Worth millions at that time, the School Trust assets have grown to a value exceeding $7 billion today. That’s right, $7 billion! According to their website, the school has over 12,000 alumni nationwide. Jason Wolfe is one of those alumni.
Abandoned by his father, Jason was placed in the Milton Hershey Home at the age of 10 by his mother, when she was unable to take care of him and his brothers. It was at the Hershey Home he learned structure and discipline in the home’s firm, but compassionate atmosphere. Jason graduated from the high school at the home in 1987 and later from Bloomsburg University.
Like Mr. Hershey, Jason Wolfe also had a rocky road on the way to business success. In his 20s, Jason suffered a severe accident and was recovering from spinal fusion. While laid up, Wolfe taught himself computer programming and used his new skill to create the first online coupon site in 1995 when the commercial Internet was in its infancy. There were more difficult times along the way, but the coupon site eventually became Giftcards.com. The company now does over $110 million a year in sales.
Like Mr. Hershey, Jason Wolfe also gives back, and is actively involved in mission work in Haiti and many other charitable projects. “Probably, subconsciously it was inside me that I wanted to walk in his footsteps,” says Mr. Wolfe of Milton Hershey.
You can see the lives of two men, Milton Hershey and Jason Wolfe, born 100 years apart, who chose to let the difficulties that they faced in life make them better, not bitter. And create a legacy for those who follow. That’s something to think about while you’re snacking on that candy bar, or picking out that gift card for someone you don’t know how to buy for this Christmas.