See's Donates Easter Candies Despite Coronavirus Shutdown

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Despite closing down its shops, kitchens and shipping centers last month due to the new coronavirus outbreak, See's Candies said this week it had donated 5,000 pounds of chocolate and treats to community organizations ahead of Easter Sunday.

The candies will go to groups that provide COVID-19 support, See's said in a Facebook post Friday, with photos of workers packing up Easter baskets and loading them into cars.

"We are grateful for those on the front lines and honored to contribute sweetness to the communities that they serve," the company said.

See's, headquartered in South San Francisco, announced in late March that it was suspending production for just the second time in its 99-year history — the first time since World War II.

The San Francisco-based company has 250 locations in 17 states, including about 150 in California.

Sees was founded in Los Angeles in 1921 by Charles Alexander See II, his wife, Florence, and his widowed mother, Mary, shortly after the family arrived in the United States from Canada. To this day the company boasts of still using Mary Sees' original recipes.

The company's chocolate assembly line was famously featured in a classic 1952 episode of "I Love Lucy" where the characters played by actresses Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance failed to keep up with production and tried to hide it by eating the chocolates they were unable to wrap and box.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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