Kate Antonacci-Panera Cares: Dignified Dining for the Hungry

The face of hunger is changing. Panera Doesnt offer a Free Lunch - It Offers Caring for people from all walks of life. 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. Kate Antonacci is Director of Societal Impact Initiatives at Panera Bread. Panera Cares website is http://paneracares.org/

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