Panera Bread & Cleveland Clinic Team Up to Fight Breast Cancer This October Through the Sale of Pink Ribbon Bagels

CLEVELAND, OH--(Marketwired - Oct 1, 2014) - Panera Bread is joining the fight against breast cancer by baking its signature Pink Ribbon Bagels this breast cancer awareness month. The 46 Northeast Ohio bakery-cafes will donate a portion of the proceeds from each Pink Ribbon bagel sold to breast cancer programs at Cleveland Clinic.

Shaped in the form of the iconic pink ribbon, the signature Pink Ribbon bagels feature cherry chips, dried cherries and cranberries, vanilla, honey, and brown sugar, and are baked fresh early each morning by Panera's bakers at each bakery-café. To pre-order your Pink Ribbon bagels in advance, please visit www.paneracovelli.com/gopinkcle.

"Panera Bread locations in the Northeast Ohio area are honored to work alongside our customers to support Cleveland Clinic in October." said Sam Covelli, Owner/Operator of Covelli Enterprises. "We're proud to offer the Pink Ribbon Bagel as a way to help raise both funds and attention locally for the cause during Breast Cancer Awareness Month."

This is the fourth year Panera Bread is supporting breast cancer programs through the sale of Pink Ribbon bagels. Over the past three years, Covelli Enterprises, the largest franchisee of Panera Bread LLC, has donated over $160,000 to support breast cancer programs at Cleveland Clinic.

"Breast cancer touches so many lives throughout Northeast Ohio and we are thrilled to be working with Panera Bread again this October to raise funds and awareness that can offer hope to those touched by this devastating disease," said Dr. Jame Abraham, Director of Breast Oncology at Cleveland Clinic.

The funds that are raised through this fundraiser will benefit patient support programs/services that are non-revenue generating and are completely financed by philanthropic support. It includes art and music therapy, wig boutique (every Cleveland Clinic patient with cancer diagnosis can receive a free wig), Reiki, psycho-social support, patient navigation and survivorship programs. It is an incredibly positive tool to help navigate a patient through the overwhelming diagnosis of cancer.

About Covelli Enterprises and Panera Bread

Covelli Enterprises operates more than 250 Panera Bread bakery-cafés in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Florida and Ontario, Canada. Headquartered in Warren, Ohio, Covelli Enterprises is the nation's largest franchisee of Panera, LLC. For more information, visit www.paneracovelli.com.