Panera Bread Honors National Breast Cancer Awareness Month With Pink Ribbon Bagels™

Panera Bread is inviting its customers to join in the fight against breast cancer by eating a bagel for breakfast during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Panera’s signature Pink Ribbon Bagels will be sold in the Middletown, Nanuet, Port Chester, Yorktown Heights, Fishkill, Scarsdale, Bronx/Co-Op City, and Poughkeepsie cafes and in all of its more than 1,000 bakery-cafes during the month of October. Panera is proud to donate a portion of the proceeds from each Pink Ribbon Bagel sold to the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign run by the American Cancer Society Hudson Valley Region in Middletown, NY. In addition, Panera will be collecting money through their Operation Dough-nation® program and donating it to the American Cancer Society.
The Panera Pink Ribbon Bagel is baked fresh daily in each of Panera Bread’s bakery-cafes and features cherry chips and real bits of Bing cherries and cranberries. The product follows the tradition of ‘thinking pink’ during the month of October in the quest to eradicate breast cancer disease. Sue Stees, one of Panera Bread’s first franchisees and a breast cancer survivor, developed the idea for the Pink Ribbon Bagel in 2001 as a way to help support the cause. “This undertaking tickles us pink,” said Stees, a Tulsa resident who currently operates Panera bakery-cafes in Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
“Panera Bread is committed to serving the members of the local community, many of whom have had their lives touched by breast cancer,” states Tony Diaz, operating partner of the Panera Bread cafes in the Hudson Valley region. “We are honored to support the American Cancer Society in the fight to find a cure for breast cancer.”

Panera Bread also supports charitable causes through its Operation Dough-Nation® program. For the past 14 years, the program has ensured that every purchase at Panera Bread feeds back into the community. Operation Dough-Nation® contributes to the local community with both monetary and bread donations to local food pantries and hunger relief agencies.

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Panera Bread serves fresh baked, handcrafted artisan breads, sweet and savory baked goods, hand-tossed salads, wholesome soups, and signature sandwiches in a distinctly warm and welcoming environment. Panera Bread is committed to using only the highest quality, fresh ingredients in the food we offer, and making a lasting contribution to the neighborhoods in which our customers and employees live and work through programs like Operation Dough-Nation. Headquartered in Richmond Heights, MO, Panera Bread operates 1,101 bakery-cafes (430 company-owned and 671 franchised) as of March 27, 2007. For more information, visit www.panerabread.com.