Mars Wrigley Announces Winners of its Seventh Annual Forrest E. Mars, Jr. Chocolate History Research Grant at Heritage Chocolate Society Meeting

HACKETTSTOWN, N.J., Jan. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mars Wrigley is pleased to announce that the Forrest E. Mars, Jr. Chocolate History Research Grant is being awarded to five institutions across the US and Canada in the areas of research and chocolate programming. Winners were acknowledged at the 16th Annual gathering of the Heritage Chocolate Society held at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Heritage Chocolate Society seeks to further the study of chocolate's rich history and its impact on past and present culture in the Americas. Since 2013, there has been a total of $266,000 in grant funds awarded.

"This year we are awarding $50,000 in grant funds to five different research institutions for projects dedicated to deeper discovery into the influence of chocolate on global heritage and culture," said Gail Broadright, Director Sponsorships and Mars Family Properties.  "We were excited and inspired by all of the grant submissions.  We believe these winners will provide immersive educational experiences that bring these chocolate stories to life for the public, and preserve them for future generations." 

Mars Wrigley and AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate awarded grants for the following:

• The Fort Ticonderoga Association: (Ticonderoga, NY) The Fort will soon begin culinary history programming within the historic fort as well as in the newly restored 1826 National Historic Landmark building, the Pavilion. The grant will fund its hands-on chocolate culinary experience that will go beyond period cooking demonstrations. Guests of all ages will engage interactively with how chocolate was supplied to troops and tourists at the fort, global trade and economics and the real taste of chocolate through the centuries. For more information, please visit: https://www.fortticonderoga.org

• Stratford Hall: (Stratford, VA) Once the family home to generations of the Lee Family, Stratford Hall will use its grant to support its research, publications, programs as well as an exhibit related to the production and consumption of chocolate at the historic plantation. Stratford Hall has a unique story to tell and this chocolate exhibit will use multimedia to share the exotic ingredients, delicate skills and start of America's love of chocolate at the plantation. For more information, please visit: https://www.stratfordhall.org

• Friends of Lower Fort Garry: (Saint Andrews, Manitoba) The Friends of Lower Fort Garry plan to use its grant to fund experiential programming that investigates the food histories of British Columbia forts with a focus on chocolate. Visitors will learn the history of chocolate in medicinal usages, desserts and historic menus, celebratory toasts and drinks as well as recipes during the fur-trade era. The grant will also support the creation of an historic and artistic reproduction of the Made Beaver coin using HERITAGE® Chocolate. For more information, please visit: https://folfg.com

• Michigan State University Extension: (East Lansing, MI) Michigan State University Extension will use its grant to create 15 Chocolate Culture and Creativity kits. Each kit will contain lessons, activities, and supplies for over 12 hours of chocolate education for over 50 youth. Additionally, the grant will reach over 750 youth in the 4-H SPIN (special interest) club format by funding the enhancement and expansion of Michigan 4-H's current Chocolate, Culture and Creativity programming. For more information, please visit: https://www.canr.msu.edu/outreach/

• George Washington's Mount Vernon Ladies' Association: (Mount Vernon, VA) This grant will be used to create professional development workshops and field trips designed to reach 40 teachers and 600 students in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). A unit entitled Chocolate and Trade: The Americas will be developed in collaboration with DCPS to support and enhance the current 6^th grade social studies curriculum. Students will learn the history of chocolate, 18^th-century trade routes, historic chocolate making techniques as well as George Washington's chocolate consumption. For more information, please visit: https://www.mountvernon.org/preservation/mount-vernon-ladies-association/

Last year's grant winners—Smithsonian Museum of American History, The University of Wisconsin, The New York Historical Society, The Betsy Ross House and the Office of Historic Alexandria—made presentations during the annual meeting highlighting the details and results of their grant funded programs. 

Mars plans to continue to award grants on an annual basis and the submission period for the 2020 awards begins in the summer of 2020 at www.AmericanHeritageChocolate.com.  AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate is a line of artisanal chocolate products developed from ingredient lists from the 1750s. Developed by Mars Wrigley, AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate helps illuminate the stories of our collective history - from chocolate's Mesoamerican roots, dating back over 3500 years, to its place in the lives of European and Colonial American families, to its role in popular culture today. While its rich history provides context for this intriguing global narrative, it is chocolate's future, and its story of connection, that brings people together, spanning cultures, time and place, that inspires the Forrest E. Mars, Jr. Chocolate History Research Grant to push the boundaries of discovery. 

About AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate:
The AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate brand was developed in 2006 by Mars Chocolate North America (now Mars Wrigley) to help educate consumers about the history of our multicultural nation through the engaging story of one of our most beloved foods…chocolate!  With a flavor profile drawn directly from the archives of chocolate's historic past, AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate provides an artisanal, versatile way to eat, bake or drink a sweet taste of history. Rainforest Alliance Certified™, 57% cacao and made with no preservatives, AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate currently comes in four NEW unique formats: Tasting Squares, Tablet Bars, Finely Grated Baking Chocolate for baking/drinking and Gourmet Hot Cocoa. AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate is sold in over 200 fine gift shops at historic sites, museums and historic inns across the USA and Canada. The brand can also be found on Amazon.com, at M&M's World in New York City and Las Vegas, and at the Ethel M chocolate store in Henderson, Nevada.

Learn more about AMERICAN HERITAGE Chocolate at www.Facebook.com/AmericanHeritageChocolate, on Instagram at @AmericanHeritageChocolate, Twitter @Choc_history, Tumblr @americanheritagechocolate.tumblr.com, and on Pinterest @Chochistory.

About Mars, Incorporated
Mars is a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love. With almost $35 billion in sales, the company is a global business that produces some of the world's best-loved brands: M&M's®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, MILKY WAY®, DOVE®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, EXTRA®, ORBIT®, 5™, SKITTLES®, UNCLE BEN'S®, MARS DRINKS and COCOAVIA®. Mars also provides veterinary health services that include BANFIELD® Pet Hospitals, Blue Pearl®, VCA® and Pet Partners™. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars operates in more than 80 countries. The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom – inspire its more than 100,000 Associates to create value for all its partners and deliver growth they are proud of every day.

For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

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