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Local Voices

Local Panera Bread Bakery-Cafes Kick-off Holiday Gift Drive In Partnership With Local Charities

November 26, 2013 — Twenty-five Panera Bread bakery-cafes in Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts and Greater Hartford/Eastern Connecticut have kicked off their Holiday Gift Drive campaign. Customers can participate by simply going to the counter, selecting a gift tag with a specific child’s first name on it, and then purchasing the “wish list” items noted.  Each gift tag is special with a different child, age and list of gifts on it.  Gifts should be brought back to the manager of the bakery-cafe by Monday, December 9th unwrapped in a shopping or gift bag with the gift tag attached.

The participating bakery-cafes and their non-profit partners are as follows:  Groton and Waterford, CT are partnering with the Riverfront Children’s Center based in Groton; Lisbon, CT is working with the United Community & Family Services in Jewett City, CT; Bristol, Canton, Farmington, Hartford, Newington and Wethersfield, CT are participating with Place of Grace based in Hartford, CT; bakery-cafes in Glastonbury, Manchester (Deming Street) and Manchester (Shoppes at Buckland Hills), CT are working with the ECHN Family Development Center in Manchester; West Hartford, CT is participating with The Bridge Family Center in West Hartford; Enfield, CT is teaming up with The Enfield Food Shelf; North Dartmouth, MAis partnering with Child & Family Services in New Bedford, MA; and cafes in Cranston, East Greenwich, Lincoln (as part of its opening activities the first week of December), Newport, Providence, Smithfield, Wakefield and Warwick, RI and North Attleborough, Plainville and Seekonk, MA are working together with Children’s Friend based in Providence.  All twenty-five Panera Bread bakery-cafes are owned and operated by Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group based in Cumberland, RI.

Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group also recently announced a partnership with Feeding America® where all donations collected through its cafes’ ongoing Panera Cares Community Breadbox™ Program will go directly to Feeding America member food banks.  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.  This new partnership is part of Panera Bread’s ongoing effort to combat the problem of hunger in America.  For years, Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group has donated all unsold bread and baked goods each night to local food pantries and other organizations that provide hunger relief through its 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.

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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.  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.

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

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