In the depths of the Great Depression, Milton Hershey created The M.S. Hershey Foundation, endowing it with 5000 shares of Hershey Chocolate Company stock to help fund educational and cultural activities in Derry Township. Three years later, the fund began supporting the new Hershey Junior College, which offered tuition-free education to local residents and Hershey employees until its closing in 1965.

Today, this non-profit foundation funds the Hershey Theater, Hershey Museum, Hershey Gardens and Hershey Community Archives, thus playing a valuable role in the financial and cultural life of the community.