Panera Community Cafe - Clayton, MO
Yesterday I needed to be in Clayton for the day and for lunch I went to St. Louis Bread Company that really was one of four of Panera's Community Cafes. This was my first opportunity to hear about what Panera is doing to help with current hunger problem. Sounds like a good idea to me.
Your are given a sales slip with a suggested donation on it and you pay what you want. More if you like and less if that is all you have. If you are hunger and have no money at all, eat for free and donate one hour of your time in exchange.
Our Mission
“Panera Cares® community cafes exist to feed each and every person who walks through our doors with dignity regardless of their means.”
Panera Cares community cafes are about working together, shoulder to shoulder with our customers, to confront a serious problem plaguing communities across this country. Hunger. Simply put, in these non-profit locations, we will feed anyone. We will offer a dignified dining experience in an uplifting environment – without judgment – whether or not a person can pay. Panera Cares community cafes – operated by the Panera Bread Foundation, a separate Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity – are meant to raise the level of awareness about food insecurity in this country, while also being a catalyst for change in our communities.
Panera Cares community cafes are designed to help address the ever-worsening epidemic of food insecurity (hunger) in the U.S. Consider this: according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), over 17 million U.S. households are considered food insecure. Simply put, for a significant number of Americans, putting food on the table is a struggle. 16 million kids – 1 in 5 – do not have enough to eat each day and lack the means to get enough nutritious food on a regular basis.
We’re trying to help fix that. While many solutions exist to provide access to food, Panera Cares community cafes are designed to address hunger in a new way…in a restaurant setting that maintains one’s dignity and fills one’s belly.
If you live in one of these four cities and agree this is a good idea try to support the cause with a visit.
Saint Louis Bread Company Cares™ Community Cafe
10 South Central Ave.
Clayton, MO 63015
(314) 725-9666
Located in Panera’s (Saint Louis Bread Company) hometown, our Saint Louis location was the pilot run for our non-profit donation-based cafe model. We chose Clayton because it was one of our oldest cafes – we have deep roots in the neighborhood and we were confident that the people of Clayton would help ensure the cafe’s success. Saint Louis Bread Co. Cares opened on Sunday, May 16, 2010 and the subsequent opening of additional Panera Cares community cafes has been the best testament to its great success.
Panera Cares® Community Cafe (Dearborn)
22208 Michigan Avenue
Dearborn, MI 48124
(313) 274-3301
We opened our second Panera Cares location right before Thanksgiving 2010 – Sunday, November 21, 2010 to be exact. We had been targeting the Detroit market for quite some time and found the Dearborn site to have the perfect blend of customers that we were looking for. Coupled with a deep sense of community, we were confident that this site would exceed our expectations. And it has.
Panera Cares® Community Cafe (Portland)
4143 NE Halsey Street
Portland, OR 97232
(503) 287-5900
Panera Cares came to the Hollywood district in Portland on January 16, 2011. We’d had our eye on the Pacific Northwest for a few months and were excited when we found the Hollywood cafe – the community’s deep social awareness and interest in innovative programs made it the perfect market for an experiment like Panera Cares.
Panera Cares® Community Cafe (Chicago)
616 W Diversey Pkwy
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 528-4556
June 21, 2012 was an exciting day for Panera Cares as our fourth location opened in Chicago!Like the other Panera Cares cafes, the Chicago site (located in Lakeview East) is easily accessible via public transportation and expects to attract an eclectic mix of economically diverse customers, exuding a genuine neighborhood vibe.In addition, there are more than 9,000 Lakeview residents who are food insecure. This need, matched with the neighborhood atmosphere, made Lakeview East an ideal location for Chicago’s Panera Cares cafe.
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