Originally published on LinkedIn by Andrew Clarke, Global President at Mars Wrigley.

At Mars Wrigley, our purpose is “Better Moments Make The World Smile.” The world we want tomorrow is a world where Mars Wrigley does our best to support our communities. Businesses are led by people, and it is people who step up with ideas about how to make a difference.

Months ago, as COVID-19 cases began to increase globally, I was fortunate to have 34,000 of my passionate colleagues engage to help determine how Mars Wrigley would do our part to aid sourcing and site communities.

To support COVID-19 relief efforts and make the biggest impact, the Mars Wrigley Foundation committed $3 million as a part of Mars Incorporated’s $20 million cash and in-kind donation to support people, pets and communities around the world. This was in addition to an emergency grant the Foundation provided to Hubei Red Cross in partnership with Give2Asia when the crisis first began to support urgent protective gear needs for frontline workers in Wuhan, China.

For those affected in our extended supply chain, we began providing increased support to our sourcing communities facing dire challenges. As a part of Mars Incorporated’s $20 million contribution, we committed $5 million to support CARE for critical supplies and expertise that are being deployed in the developing world, to women, children and refugee populations. CARE’s work on the ground in Côte d'Ivoire will address cocoa farming communities most critical and basic needs, including providing hand washing kits to ensuring 350,000 farmers will have the means to feed their families despite economic uncertainty. Mars Wrigley also announced we would partner with our industry peers and the World Cocoa Foundation to support the national emergency plans of governments in West Africa, Asia and Latin America.

And we’re still, months later, trying our best to make people smile. It’s what we’ve done for a century and means even more in uncertain times. Mars Wrigley will continue to provide product donations to food banks, frontline healthcare, and essential workers through our longstanding community partners. I’ve seen and heard how far small acts of kindness – like receiving favorite treats – can go to raise people’s spirits, and we certainly need that this year. One example of many around the world since spring: after our Mars Wrigley UK team donated one million Maltesers chocolate Easter eggs in April to frontline healthcare workers of the NHS, they followed with more than 250,000 packs of Extra chewing gum this summer after hearing that the doctors and nurses were hoping to keep refreshed during their long hours of wearing masks. A little moment can go a long way. 

People, at all levels of our organization and across geographies, continue to come together to create a better tomorrow for communities where we operate. That’s why I couldn’t be prouder.