playing chess at the campground while we packed up.......
We visited Hershey,PA today and took a chocolate tour, which was actually a ride that took us through the entire process of how cocoa is grown, harvested, and used as an ingredient to make chocolate in the many flavors that hersheys makes.....the kids got to work on the assembly line and pack up kisses.....
......we shopped, and the kids made their own creations (ice cream sundaes and sandwiches with a few types of Hershey toppings),
and then to close we jumped on the Hershey trolley to tour the town, see the factory and the other Hershey buildings. Expecting to see your standard tour, I was genuinely moved to hear an inspiring history of Milton Hershey, the humble man that had a dream to sell carmels and how his small, almost failing business, grew like gangbusters when he started making chocolates. His story is the American dream come true. He was the son of Mennonite dairy farmers but he HAD A DREAM TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. He put every last dime HE HAD and money he borrowed from relatives into his business ventures, failing in some and finally finding success in his chocolate business. Over his lifetime, he gave away almost everything he made. His treasured wife, upon learning that she would never have a child of her own, struck on the idea of giving a home and school to children of deceased parents. Her dream to help a few orphans grew steadily into the huge elementary, middle and high school programs that are still thriving today. 1800 children a year attend this school and home. The kids live in a home with an adult couple and a small group of kids. Each home is just that....a home for those who have never had such a refuge. Some have not had loving home environments, some are from broken homes, some have lost their families......but here they have a home, top rate education, help to deal with their emotional situations, health care, clothing, meals, and more than anything......a family that cares for them as they would their own. This was the Hershey’s dream.....to give a home to those that had none. More than that, every Sunday these kids attend non-denominational church services and have devotions in their homes each day so they are learning of the love of jesus.....all of the homes have the 10 commandments posted and kids learn to respect others by following them. One of the ideals that the kids learn is a work ethic, chores and working are important to give the kids skills and they learn to live and give back to their community. As we drove through the campus we saw kids walking home after school and they all waved and smiled as we drove by.....we were priviledged to have a great tour guide who just happened to have been and administrator at the school for over 20 years and you could feel the love and devotion he has for the kids as he spoke about them as “our kids”.....Wow, this highly successful model should inspire all CHILD WELFARE PROGRAMS......WOULDN’T IT BE NICE TO SEE KIDS IN OUR CURRENT FOSTER CARE SYSTEM WITH THESE OPPORTUNITIES AND RAISED THIS WAY.....It would be nice if someone in government thought about looking at other models to see how it could be better.....I had tears in my eyes as we listened to the gentleman tell us how so many lives have been affected and changed by this opportunity that Milton Hershey put in place.....He truly practiced giving back to others......the kids that have gone to his and kitty’s school make a difference in their communities learn to make a difference, too. One of them is the head of the school now. 
We had a “sweet” day at the “Sweetest Place on Earth”.
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| pam and I took a chocolate tasting class.......... |
From there, we stopped at costco to do a huge shop....now we are restocked and ready to move on.....
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