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

CLEVELAND, OH--(Marketwired - October 03, 2016) - Panera Bread is joining the fight against breast cancer by baking its signature Pink Ribbon Bagels this Breast Cancer Awareness month. The 49 Northeast Ohio bakery-cafes will donate a portion of Pink Ribbon bagel proceeds to breast cancer programs at Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Akron General. Pink Ribbon bagels are available in café from October 1^st-October 31^st.

Shaped in the form of the iconic pink ribbon, the signature Pink Ribbon bagel features cherry chips, dried cherries and cranberries, vanilla, honey, and brown sugar, and are baked fresh each morning by Panera bakers at each bakery-café. To pre-order your Pink Ribbon bagels in advance, please visit www.covelli.com/gopink. Show your support for the cause on social media by posting a photo of your Pink Ribbon Bagel @pinkribbonbagel using #morethandough (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). By purchasing a Pink Ribbon Bagel, you are supporting a local cause in the fight against breast cancer.

"We make this campaign a priority every year for a reason," said Sam Covelli, Owner/Operator of Covelli Enterprises, the Ohio-based franchisee of Panera Bread. "The funds raised by the Pink Ribbon Bagel are helping to save the lives of local women with breast cancer. There's no better feeling than knowing you can help make a difference."

Since the program's inception, Covelli Enterprises, the largest franchisee of Panera Bread LLC, has raised over $1.5 million to support breast cancer programs at local beneficiaries.

The funds raised through the sale of the Pink Ribbon bagel 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

Covelli Enterprises is the largest franchisee of Panera Bread, LLC, with more than 275 bakery-cafés in Ohio, Erie, Kentucky, Florida and Toronto, Canada. In 2015, Covelli Enterprises donated more than $26 million to non-profit organizations. www.covelli.com