Panera Customers Come Through For Children's Friend This Christmas

A Holiday Gift Drive at Panera Bread at 180 Smithfield Crossing has made the holidays brighter for families at Children’s Friend in Providence, delivering more than 30 presents collected from Panera customers and employees. 

Stacy Couto, Vice President of External Affairs at Children’s Friend, recently received the gifts from Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group representatives.

For the third consecutive year, customers participated in the Holiday Gift Drive by simply going to the counter at their local Panera, selecting a gift tag with a specific child’s first name on it, and then purchasing the “wish list” items noted.  Each gift tag is special with a different child, age and list of gifts on it.  Gifts were then brought back to the respective cafes by participating customers early last week 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 2011.  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.