Panera Newport To Hold Free Coffee Event To Support "Ton Of Love" Food Drive To Benefit Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center

NEWPORT, RI, February 12, 2014 — The Panera Bread at 49 Long Wharf Mall in Newport, Rhode Island, announces that it will hold a free coffee event on Tuesday, February 25th starting at 7:00 a.m. to support the Newport County Chamber of Commerce’s “Ton of Love” Food Drive which benefits the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center.  In exchange for donating one or more food pantry items, the first 100 customers will receive a free Panera travel coffee mug and one month of free coffee refills (limited one mug per person, per donation; free coffee refills valid only at the Panera Newport until March 26, 2014).  Recommended food items to donate include non-perishable canned soup, fruit, veggies and meat, rice, pasta and mac ‘n’ cheese, pasta sauce, Goya products, peanut butter and jelly, coffee and tea, canned or dry milk, cake and muffin mix, cereal and condiments.

“Once again we would like to thank Panera Bread for their dedication to those who are hungry in the Newport area and across the state,” said Marilyn Warren, Executive Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center.  “We collected more than 150 food items through this event last year and we would like to try and double that this year so we urge the local community to show up bright and early, help those in need and enjoy a free travel mug and coffee for your efforts.”

The Ton of Love Food Drive is held throughout February to coincide with the public schools’ winter vacations.  Its goal is to help stock pantry shelves to aid families with children that often participate in the school lunch program.  Food or gift card donations can be made at the following locations: Newport – Panera Bread, Helly Hansen, Music Box, Newport Yachting Center/Newport Skating Center, Newport Grand and Panera Bread; Middletown – Edward Jones, Train with Jane, Webster Bank, Serenity Day Spa, ATC Tech and Newport County Computer, Custom House Coffee, Polo Cleaners, The Chamber Office, Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co., Ltd., Linear Title & Closing, Northeast Engineers & Consultants, SEA CORP, Serendity Day Spa, Webster Bank and Newport County YMCA; Portsmouth – Prescott Point Condominiums; and Pawtucket – Bristol County Savings Bank.

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 27 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 100,000 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 orwww.paneracatering.com.

Howley Bread Group, LTD based in Cumberland, Rhode Island, a franchise of Panera Bread, owns and operates a total of twenty-seven 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 atwww.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!