When in 1992 we built our first factory near Sochaczew, it was for Mars Polska (then, it was Master Foods Polska) a great event not only for business reasons. It was our first factory in Poland and for the company it was some kind of “moving in” to a new country. We knew that if we invest in Poland, we would stay here for longer. One of Mars Polska principles is Mutuality. It says that mutual benefit is the common benefit and the common benefit is durable. That is why we undertook a series of activities the aim of which was and still is - to be not only a company which invested to build factories and hires many local inhabitants but most of all we want to be an active member of the local community and simply a good neighbor.
 
Already in early 1990s, during the construction of our factories, we undertook an extensive cooperation with the local self-government, which resulted in numerous Mars Polska investments related to the construction and improvement of operation of infrastructure as well as increase of security of local citizens.

For us, growth is particularly important, that is why we want our environment to grow as our company grows. That is why we have been supporting the development of sport infrastructure in Sochaczew for many years. In the years 2002-2005, in cooperation with the municipality of Sochaczew, we redeveloped a playground for children and youth. Selection of high class playground equipment, their attractiveness and variety, a careful and considered organizational design of the entire playground which ensures appropriately selected equipment for particular age groups and the highest safety standards resulted in creation of a new playground which served thousands of the town's inhabitants. In 2007, Mars Polska completed in Sochaczew an exceptional project - a skate park for roller-skating, skateboarding and riding BMX bicycles. The design of the facility was made on commission of our company and was created in cooperation with Sochaczew skaters and leading Polish skaters. The facility was completed according to the latest technological trends using the modern methods of development of the entire area. It is now a part of a sports complex managed by the Municipal Centre of Sports and Recreation in Sochaczew and is extremely popular.

The project we are particularly proud of is related with the European Footraces of Young Olympic Sportsmen. Since 1994, Mars Polska supports this largest mass sports event for children in Poland, which is held each year in Bielice near Sochaczew. In 2001, the Young Olympic Sportsmen Footraces were selected by the International Olympic Committee as a place to organize the Peace Race. Thanks to this support, since 2001 schools the representatives of which take part in the Races, are „transformed” into countries of members of the International Olympic Committee. That is why the parade of schools, which each year opens the event, is a colorful procession of countries supporting the Olympic idea. In the parade, the schools are accompanies by representatives of countries accredited in Poland. Thanks to this idea, many schools made contacts with schools in other countries and the school celebrations are attended by employees of friend embassies.

We keep executing a series of educational programs. The program „We select the vocation", in which in the years 1995-2005 over 2400 high-school graduates participated, is very popular among young inhabitants of Sochaczew. In cooperation with the National School Support Association, we organize summer educational workshops for school leaders.

Since 1996, thanks to the initiative of Mars Polska and Mars UK, a cooperation agreement between the towns of Sochaczew and Melton was signed. Since that time, almost 2000 people took part in exchange. They represented mainly the circles of municipal authorities, local self-government institutions and services, primary and secondary schools, NGOs and local businesses. The exchange aims to share the knowledge, experiences and contacts of both countries. Each year, groups of inhabitants attend and take active part in municipal festivals, festivities and celebrations. Trips of Sochaczew inhabitants to Melton and Melton inhabitants to Sochaczew are an unforgettable experience and give many new impressions. As far as we know, we are one of the few, if not the only company in Poland which, having branches in towns in two different countries, inspired their local governments to sign a cooperation agreement.

Mars Polska, as a responsible manufacturer, is actively contributing to maintain the balance in natural environment. We want to share our knowledge on environment protection and pass our experience on others. We believe that only joint actions allow protecting our planet. As part of these activities, we support with respect of organization and finance, the ecological educational project “Clean Bzura”, co-authored by the “Razem” Association, Kampinos National Park and Warsaw University. The project is addressed to students of local schools of all levels, and consists in preparing a presentation and related activities on protection of the Bzura river.

Despite a constant execution of a series of activities, we still find it important to be near our neighbors. To be able to sum up our joint neighbor relations, we have been inviting our closest neighbors and representatives of the local community to annual meetings. Our Guests are able to find out what our plans for the next year are, which projects we were able to complete and which achievements make us particularly proud.

For these and many more activities, we were given numerous awards, both from local authorities and national organizations. However, for us the most important is that Mars Polska may be an active member of the local community, support it and simply be a good neighbor.