Holiday Gift Drive by Local Panera Bread Bakery-Cafes to Benefit Children’s Friend

CUMBERLAND, RI — Eleven Panera Bread bakery-cafes in Rhode Island (Cranston, East Greenwich, Lincoln, Newport, Providence, Smithfield, Wakefield and Warwick) and Southeastern Massachusetts (North Attleborough, Plainville and Seekonk) have kicked off their annual Holiday Gift Drive campaign to benefit Children’s Friend based in Providence. All eleven cafes are owned and operated by Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group based in Cumberland, Rhode Island.

Customers can participate in the Holiday Gift Drive by simply going to the counter, selecting a gift tag with a specific child’s first name on it, and then purchasing the suggested “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 Friday, December 12th unwrapped and in a shopping or gift bag with the gift tag attached.

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 2013. 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.

Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group also enjoys 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 partnership is part of Panera Bread’s ongoing effort to combat the problem of hunger in America. In addition, 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.

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 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-eight 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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