94-Year-Old 'Candy Man' Passes Out Free Hershey's Bars To Make Others Smile

Bob Williams is not your typical retired teacher and coach from Long Grove, Iowa. He’s still teaching the world to be kind and care about each other –one Hershey’s candy bar at a time.

This 93-year-old started passing out candy bars almost two decades ago as a way to reach his community with kindness. He hoped his gesture would put a smile on people’s faces and help them have a good day. Now, Williams is known as “The Candy Man” around his town.

“It just makes me feel good. It’s guaranteed to light up most anyone’s life. You’ll see.”

Each week, WWII Veteran, Bob Williams, visits his local Dollar General store to stock up on the candy bars that he stores in his freezer for just the right moment. Williams uses the giant Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars to encourage others.

“You’d think I’d given them keys to a new car,” he said. “Honest to God, these people were thunderstruck."

It’s estimated that he’s passed out a whopping 6,000 chocolate bars since he began this tradition. The first two he purchases always go to the cashiers at the Dollar General, the third to someone in line with him. Always given with light conversation and a smile, Williams is setting the example for how easy it is to bless someone. As Bob passes out the bars he tries to learn each person’s name and remember it!

Bob's story reached Hershey’s after an employee’s relative read about him in a newspaper and passed the clipping along. CMO Jill Baskin knew that Bob was on to something and felt this was the perfect time to use his story as an example for others. The company began “heartwarming the world” campaign and of course, Bob was the easy choice to be one of the featured stories.

"Right now there are not a lot of things everyone can agree on, but everyone can agree on Hershey."