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Panera Bread and Five Pound Apparel benefit Weekend Backpack Program

Panera Bread and Five Pound Apparel benefit Weekend Backpack Program

February 8, 2013

2013 Second Fridays kick off today to support OFH Weekend Backpack Program

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Panera Bread cafés in Springfield, Branson and Joplin, along with Five Pound Apparel in downtown Springfield, announced a partnership with Ozarks Food Harvest today to help end childhood hunger locally.

Five Pound Apparel is selling limited-edition Wearing Out Hunger shirts online at 5poundapparel.com/ofh, with all proceeds benefiting Ozarks Food Harvest’s children’s feeding programs, such as the Weekend Backpack Program, after-school feeding programs and area food pantries and kitchens that serve area at-risk children. For every $20 shirt ordered, Ozarks Food Harvest will provide 36 meals to kids in need.

Panera Bread also kicks off the first Second Friday promotion of 2013 today. A portion of select items purchased from Panera’s menu will be donated to Ozarks Food Harvest on the Second Friday of every month. Last year, nearly $6,000 was donated to OFH, helping sponsor 20 Backpack Program participants. OFH’s Weekend Backpack Program provides food to at-risk children every weekend of the school year, when they would otherwise go hungry.

Today’s promotion will donate $2 for every Spinach Power Salad, $1 for every Fat-Free Superfruit Power Smoothie and $1 for every Breakfast Power Sandwich sold. The next Second Friday promotion to benefit the Backpack Program is March 8. It will feature separate select menu items.

Panera associates are also Wearing Out Hunger, sporting the shirts designed and donated by Five Pound Apparel. The café hopes the shirts will help increase awareness of the hunger-relief cause they support in southwest Missouri. The Wearing Out Hunger shirts are available today through Feb. 28 only. Shirts will ship on March 5.

One in four children in southwest Missouri is food insecure, meaning they do not always have access to food at home. Ozarks Food Harvest is the regional food bank, serving 170,000 individuals annually — nearly half are children.

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About Ozarks Food Harvest—The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving 250 nonprofit agencies across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank distributes 10 million meals annually to 170,000 unduplicated individuals. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org, facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest or twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest.

About Panera Bread
Panera Bread locations in Springfield, Branson and Joplin, Missouri, are part of a locally-owned franchise of 32 bakery-cafés in Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Panera routinely donates bread, baked goods and funds to community organizations. For more information, go to panerabread.com.

About Five Pound Apparel
Five Pound Apparel is a clothing store with a purpose. Every item gives back to someone, somewhere. The retailer opened in downtown Springfield in 2010. Learn more at 5poundapparel.com or at facebook.com/5PoundApparel.