At Panera Bread®, we believe in giving back to local communities. We show our appreciation for customers not only within our bakery-cafes but also throughout the communities we serve by sponsoring special events open to the neighborhood, participating in charitable events and offering various Operation Dough-Nation® programs.
Operation Dough-Nation Programs
Since our founding, Panera Bread and its franchisees have been active in our communities. Operation Dough-Nation was founded in 1992 to formalize our commitment to community involvement. Since then, it has grown to include four major activities: Community Breadbox™ cash collection boxes, the Day-End Dough-Nation™ program, Panera/SCRIP Card fundraising and participation in community events.
Community Breadbox
The Community Breadbox program ensures that donations made at Panera Bread feed back in to the community. A portion of cash donations made by customers in bakery-cafes may be matched by Panera and its franchisees and distributed to local non-profit organizations. Contributions generated through the program have provided basic necessities for those in need, and have created special places and opportunities. If you would like to contribute to our efforts to assist local non-profit organizations in the communities we serve, please look for the Community Breadbox collection containers at participating Panera Bread or Saint Louis Bread Co.® locations.
Day-End Dough-Nation
Through the Day-End Dough-Nation program, unsold bakery products are packaged at the end of each day and donated to local food banks and charities. In 2006, Panera Bread bakery-cafes donated a retail value of more than 28 million dollars worth of bread products to charitable organizations addressing the need for food distribution in our local communities. Many of these organizations are served by America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization.
SCRIP Fundraising
We are proud to participate in the Scrip fundraising program, helping non-profit organizations raise money. This popular fundraising program invites non-profit organizations to pre-purchase $10 Panera Card® gift cards at a 9% discounted rate and then re-sell the Panera Cards at full price.
Community Events
We also value corporate citizenship and regularly make in-kind donations to local community events such as silent auctions, runs and walks, trivia nights and raffles.