100 Years of People Helping People
In 1907, Esther Cherry opened a small candy store in Old City Philadelphia. Little did she know how much that modest candy store would grow, change, and prosper over the next 100 years.
When the first store opened, Esther sold her hand-made delectable candies and goodies, as well as coffees and teas, mostly to her neighbors. Throughout the turmoil of the 20s, 30s, and 40s – a time which saw two World Wars, the Depression and FDR’s New Deal reforms – the little candy store continued to survive and thrive, operated, more as a labor of love than as a business, by the Cherry family. However, word of the Cherry family’s commitment to quality and customer service was quickly spreading and the “business” was starting to grow.
In the 40s and 50s, various non-profit groups, mostly churches at the time, started approaching the E. Cherry and Sons Candy Shop wanting to sell some of their candy items to help their groups raise money. The Cherry’s agreed and soon started soliciting other non-profits with the same idea. As the mail order market “fundraising” business expanded, so did E.Cherry and Sons. In 1958, it moved its operation from the original Old City location to a much larger building in West Philadelphia, where it remained for the next 20 years.
In 1958, Martin “Marty” Cherry, came to work in the family business. The Cherry’s now had four stores operating in the Philadelphia area that supplied candies for fundraising to hundreds of organizations. In the mid 1970s, they started supplying candy and chocolate items to Miss Chocolate, a fundraising company located in New York. Miss Chocolate had just incorporated a new and innovative idea into their fundraising campaigns – they started rewarding high-volume sellers with prizes and awards! (A concept that seems almost commonplace today, but at the time was considered highly imaginative.) Cherrydale soon implemented similar reward benefits into their fundraising programs and the company once again saw its numbers rise.
In 1980, fresh out of George Washington University, Marty’s son Ross joined his father full time as a sales representative in the Washington DC area. Cherrydale’s reputation for quality candies and chocolates in the NY, Philadelphia, and Baltimore areas was now firmly established. The time had come to set sights on growing nationally, but where to start? In 1981, after months of studying the U.S. marketplace for the fastest growing area, Marty decided on Houston, Texas, as the place to start! It was Ross’ job to go to Houston and see if the fundraising business model that worked so well in Pennsylvania, would work in other areas. Within days of arriving in Houston, three schools saw the benefit of working with Cherrydale Farms. Soon after, Richard Toltzis, Ross’ cousin, came on to help in the family business, as did Larry Cherry, Ross’s younger brother.
In 1989, Ross and Marty acquired their first fundraising company – Academy Fundraisers, based in Baltimore, Maryland. Throughout the 90s, Cherrydale added new sales people and acquired seasoned sales forces from companies like Henco, Princeton, Regal Crown, L&M, California Fund Raisers, and Kamco, among others. Cherrydale also changed the face of the fundraising industry by developing the “Colossus” – the first mega fundraising brochure which included not only Cherrydale’s renowned chocolates and confections, but a multitude of products ranging from gift wrap to licensed brand items. The company had grown dramatically since those first years in Old City, and through it all it became evident to all those involved that its people, those who work at or with Cherrydale and who believe in Cherrydale and its core values of quality and customer satisfaction, define what the company is today – A Company of “People Helping People”.
Today, with its corporate headquarters and candy factory located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and sales representatives across the nation, Cherrydale is one of the largest fundraising companies in America. We are proud to be the nation’s leading supplier of fundraising programs and products to schools and organizations, helping to raise more than $1.5 billion over the past 100 years. Through a continued commitment to quality and concentrated focus on people, the legacy that was created by Esther Cherry and carried on by the Cherry/Toltzis family members who came after, will live on long into the future.
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