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Community Corner

Local Panera Bread Bakery-Cafes Make $30,000 Annual Donation To Children's Friend

July 17, 2013 — Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group announces that its local bakery-cafes in Rhode Island and Massachusetts assisted in the generation of an annual donation to its Operation Dough-Nation® partner, Children’s Friend, the state’s oldest child welfare organization based in Providence, Rhode Island.  The check, totaling $30,000, was recently presented at the 11th Annual Children’s Friend 5K Walk & Run Sponsored by Panera Bread which was held at Roger Williams Park.  David Caprio (at right holding check), President and Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Friend, accepted the check from (remaining, left to right) Bahjat Shariff, Operating Partner and Senior Vice President of Operations for Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group; Wendy Kopp, Marketing Director of Panera Bread/HBG; and the rest of the Panera Bread/HBG team.  Including the Panera donation, the Children’s Friend 5K Walk & Run raised over $95,000 and was attended by more than 1,400 people who also enjoyed a variety of entertainment, breakfast and lunch provided by Panera Bread Catering and more.

“We are grateful for Panera’s hard work and generosity in helping to make the 2013 Walk so successful. Panera’s generous gift will go a long way towards helping our most vulnerable kids,” said David Caprio, President and Chief Executive Officer at Children’s Friend. “Their commitment and dedication to Children’s Friend demonstrates the leadership which has no doubt made Panera Bread and Howley Bread Group such a success.”

Panera’s $30,000 donation included customer contributions placed in Operation Dough-Nation® counter canisters at bakery-cafes in Newport, Wakefield, East Greenwich, Warwick, Cranston, Providence and Smithfield, Rhode Island and Seekonk, North Attleborough, Plainville and North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, as well as a Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group matching program.  The donation also included Panera Bread’s commitment as the name sponsor of the Walk & Run which encompassed website fundraising by cafe teams who participated and a Walk & Run wristband donation campaign which was conducted for several weeks leading up to the Walk & Run at the participating bakery-cafes.  The eleven bakery-cafes participated in all of these activities, as well as a Panera Bread Catering team.

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Operation Dough-Nation® is a program committed to ensuring that purchases at Panera Bread feed back into the community.  Cash donations by customers at each bakery-cafe were increased through various matching programs by Panera/HBG and are donated to local organizations.  In keeping with its new “Live Consciously, Eat Deliciously” message, Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group also issued a “Cafe Challenge” requesting that each participating bakery-cafe register employees and friends for the Walk & Run.

Children's Friend, a non-profit organization founded in 1834, is Rhode Island's oldest child welfare organization and a leading provider of child welfare, family support, mental health and youth development services.  With centers in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls, Children’s Friend served more than 31,000 of Rhode Island's most vulnerable children and their families in 2012.  The agency's programs range from Adoption, Foster Care, Birth Parent Counseling, Child Care and Adoption Support and Preservation, to Dads Making A Difference, WIC, Head Start, Early Head Start, Early Intervention, Family Counseling and Project Connect.

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All Panera Bread bakery-cafes are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offer a variety of menu items, including breads and bagels, breakfast sandwiches, creative lunch and dinner sandwiches, pasta, hand-tossed salads, homemade soups and a variety of espresso beverages.  Panera Bread Catering also caters and delivers its full menu for any occasion at the office or home.  The breakfast, lunch and dinner assortment is sure to impress every time.  For a Panera Bread Catering menu and more, please visit the cafe or www.paneracatering.com.

All the participating Panera Bread bakery-cafes are owned by one of Panera’s top franchises, the Howley Bread Group, LTD of Cumberland, Rhode Island.  The franchisee owns and operates a total of twenty-six bakery-cafes in: Greater Hartford/Eastern, Connecticut (Bristol, Canton, Enfield, Farmington, Foxwoods, Glastonbury, Groton, Hartford, Lisbon, Manchester (2), Newington, Waterford, West Hartford and Wethersfield); Southeastern, Massachusetts (North Attleborough, North Dartmouth, Plainville and Seekonk); and Rhode Island (Providence, Cranston, Warwick, East Greenwich, Newport, Smithfield and Wakefield) markets.  For more information, please contact wendy.kopp@panerabread.com or visit the company’s web site at www.panerabreadhbg.com.

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