Panera Providence and Ten Other Panera Bakery-Cafes in Rhode Island and Nearby Massachusetts Collect and Deliver Gifts from Annual Holiday Drive to Children’s Friend

David Caprio (third from right), President and CEO of Children’s Friend based in Providence, Rhode Island, accepts the Panera Gift Drive presents from the general managers of the eleven Panera bakery-cafes in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts.

David Caprio (third from left), President and CEO of Children’s Friend based in Providence, Rhode Island, receives Panera Providence’s Holiday Drive gifts from (remaining, left to right) Bahjat Shariff, Vice President of Operations, Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group; Wendy Kopp, Director of Marketing, Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group; John Harrington, General Manager, Panera Providence; Jim Ramaglia, District Manager, Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group; and Stacy Couto, Vice President of External Affairs, Children’s Friend.

PROVIDENCE, RI — A Holiday Gift Drive at Panera Bread at 43
Providence Place (Providence Place Mall), as well as ten other Panera bakery-cafes
in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts, is making the holidays brighter for children
and families served by Children’s Friend based in Providence, Rhode Island as more than
450 presents were collected for the organization by Panera customers and employees.
Eleven bakery-cafes from Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts collected gifts for more
than 150 children which will go towards the 1,100 families that Children’s Friend serves
through its Spirit of Giving campaign.

For the fifth consecutive year, Panera customers participated in the Holiday Gift Drive by
simply going to the counter at the local Panera, 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 was
special with a specific child, his/her age and a list of presents. Those participating brought
the gifts back to the respective cafes in a 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 32,000 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.

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

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.

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.

Leave a comment