Panera Newport's Free Coffee Event Collects 273 Pounds Of Food To Support "Ton Of Love" Food Drive To Benefit MLK Community Center

NEWPORT, RI — The Panera Bread at 49 Long Wharf Mall in Newport, Rhode Island, recently held a Free Coffee Event which collected 273 pounds of food items to support the Newport County Chamber of Commerce’s “Ton of Love” Food Drive which benefits the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center.  In exchange for donating one or more food pantry items, the first 100 customers received a free Panera travel coffee mug and one month of free coffee refills.  The “Ton of Love” Food Drive was held throughout February to coincide with the public schools’ winter vacations.  Its goal each year is to help stock pantry shelves to aid families with children that often participate in the school lunch program.

“Close to 200 food items were donated at the Panera Free Coffee Event which was well past last year’s total,” said Marilyn Warren, Executive Director of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center.  “We’re very appreciative of the generosity of those in the local community and for Panera’s focus on food insecurity in Newport and across the state.”

Panera Newport also assists the MLK Community Center by providing leftover bread, bagels and pastries Monday through Friday as part of its Day End Dough-Nation program.  This program is carried out every day in every Panera Bread location across the country.

All 28 bakery-cafes owned and operated by top Panera franchisee, the Howley Bread Group based in Cumberland, Rhode Island, participate in the Day-End Dough-Nation Program.  Collectively, the Panera Bread bakery-cafes across the country donated approximately $100 million worth of retail bread and baked goods in 2012 making the per cafe average annual bread donation approximately $146,000.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center is a multi-service agency providing a variety of human services and enrichment activities to meet the needs of the residents of Newport County.  The Center’s food pantry provided over 144,000 meals in 2013 and its breakfast program served over 10,000 meals last year.  For more information, call (401) 846-4828.

In addition to Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group’s Day End Dough-Nation program, it also enjoys a partnership with Feeding America® where all donations collected through its cafes’ ongoing Panera Cares Community Breadbox™ Program will go directly to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, a Feeding America member food bank.  This Program gives customers the opportunity to donate money at the register to support the local member food banks’ efforts to provide nutritious food to residents in need.

All Panera Bread locations 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, pastas, 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.  For a Panera Catering menu and more, please visit a cafe or www.paneracatering.com.

Howley Bread Group, LTD based in Cumberland, Rhode Island, a franchise of Panera Bread, owns and operates a total of 28 bakery-cafes in Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts and Greater Hartford/Eastern Connecticut markets.  For more information, please contact wendy.kopp@panerabread.com or visit the company’s web site at www.panerabreadhbg.com.  Also, like HBG on Facebook at /howleybreadgroup and follow the company on Twitter @panerabreadhbg to hear about upcoming new and returning menu items, community involvement and events, employment opportunities, their Panera culture and much more!