Teaming up with Hershey to Clean a Pennsylvania Park

The Alliance and The Hershey Company (Hershey) recently cleaned up the banks of Swatara Creek at Swatara Creek Park in Hershey, PA! The park is a great resource for recreation, featuring multiple fields for sports, access for shoreline fishing, and a small boat launch.

However, the park is susceptible to flooding, and with all of the recent rain, there was plenty of trash left deposited in the floodplain. The Alliance team and the wonderful volunteers from Hershey were able to find a good amount of litter and leave the place trash-free for the folks of Hershey to enjoy!

a close up of a dog toy held by a trash grabber

A dog toy found during the cleanup. Other strange items found during this cleanup included a bass pro shop baseball hat, part of a broken sink and half of a plastic deck chair.

The clean up event is just a piece of Hershey’s continued support for our work at the Alliance. Beginning in 2021, Hershey, Land O’Lakes, the Alliance launched a partnership called “Sustainable Dairy PA.” The partnership takes a collaborative, industry-led, and public sector-supported approach to accelerate on-farm conservation efforts for local eastern region dairy farmers. In August of 2023, Hershey matched a $1 million commitment from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with an additional $1 million to support the Alliance and Land O’Lakes in implementing agricultural conservation practices on Land O’Lakes member dairy farms. We’re excited to announce that Hershey will be the presenting sponsor of our 2025 Taste: Celebrate the Chesapeake event series! To learn more about Hershey’s commitment to clean water, visit our 2023 funding announcement and our Sustainable Dairy PA landing page.

two people stand by a tree next to a river

Alliance team member Mason Hendrick and Hershey volunteer Rachel Clouser work in the high heat to pick up trash.

“Supporting local farmers to improve water quality is a big task, and it’s an important one as well. It takes an army. Hershey has again and again shown up to play a hands-on role in helping us achieve an environmentally sustainable dairy supply chain. Their commitment to working collaboratively with the Alliance and our dairy partners is an enormous step toward healthier local streams and a healthier Chesapeake Bay.” – Jenna Mitchell Beckett, Pennsylvania State Director and Agriculture Program Director, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

green fishing line blending in with the leaves of a tree branch

Sometimes trash can camouflage itself pretty well, like this discarded fishing line spotted and removed from a tree.

“Hershey is committed to reducing the environmental impacts of our operations and building resilience throughout our value chain. Protecting and restoring the natural resources we rely on is critical to the continued success of our business. The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay has been an invaluable partner to us as we work to protect our local waterways and combat climate change in Central Pennsylvania, engaging both our employees and our dairy farmers in these efforts. They bring a wealth of knowledge and passion to their work, and a commitment to lifting up local communities in tandem with stewarding our water resources.” – Katie Morison, Manager, Responsible Sourcing, The Hershey Company