Panera North Attleborough Assists Local Girl Scouts to Attain "Simple Meals" Badge

North Attleboro, MA, May 10, 2016 - The eleven members of the Apple Valley Girl Scout Troop 318 located in Smithfield, Rhode Island and its leader, Jen Belvin, were on a mission when they recently visited Panera Bread North Attleborough, located at 1250 South Washington Street (Fashion Crossing), and it wasn’t to compare cookies! They were there to meet the bakery-cafe’s manager, Gina Prosser, who was ready to help them learn about the baking process with some hands-on activities so the troop could complete the first three of five steps needed to attain the Girl Scout’s Simple Meals Badge: tour a kitchen, prepare a dessert and work with bread.

First, Gina provided each of the girls with a nametag, an apron and food safety gloves along with dough for two baguettes that they helped stretch, shape and score with their own patterns or designs, from crisscrosses and braids to their first names. Once the dough was prepared and ready for baking, Gina gave the troop a tour of the cafe, including the bakery, the food prep area and the commercial refrigeration unit, as well as the ovens where their baguettes were baking. Next on the agenda was decorating “tulip shaped” cookies with different colored icings and toppings and inserting them into individual boxes. For all their hard work, the girl scouts each received a “Future Baker of Tomorrow” certificate from Panera Bread as well as the cookies they decorated and the two baguettes, one of which was to be given to a neighbor or someone in need.

“Being a female and in a position of leadership, Gina was a great role model for the girls. She was so great with the kids and fed their excitement to help make the baguettes and decorate the cookies,” said Jen. “The tour and whole experience also made the girls much more aware of what goes on in a kitchen and gave them a better sense of how everything is prepared.” Jen added that the girls will soon be finishing the final two steps for their Simple Meals Badge which is to work with a breakfast item and prepare a meal for their respective families.

All the Panera Bread bakery-cafes are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offer a variety of menu items, including breads and bagels, breakfast sandwiches, creative lunch and dinner sandwiches, pastas, hand-tossed salads, homemade soups and a variety of espresso beverages. Panera Bread Catering also caters and delivers its full menu to any occasion at the office or home. The breakfast, lunch and dinner assortment is sure to impress every time. For a Panera Bread Catering menu and more, please visit a cafe or www.paneracatering.com.

Howley Bread Group, LTD of Lincoln, Rhode Island, a franchisee of Panera Bread, owns and operates a total of 28 Panera Bread bakery-cafes in Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts and Eastern Connecticut. In 2015, Panera/Howley Bread Group's cafes collectively donated over $5,700,000 in food and funds to a variety of community charities, including The Bridge Family Center in West Hartford, Connecticut; Children's Friend, Providence, Rhode Island; Connecticut Sports Foundation Against Cancer; Feeding America through local partners including Foodshare, the Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center and Rhode Island Community Food Bank; B's Mobility Ride for Muscular Dystrophy and Ryan's Hope for a Cure Charitable Foundation. Additionally, gift card and food donations are made to local non-profit organizations through Panera/Howley Bread Group's donations department and End-of-Day baked goods are donated to more than 80 churches and shelters across the franchisee’s bakery-cafe network.

For more information on Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group, please visit the company’s web site at www.panerabreadhbg.com. Also, like HBG on Facebook at /howleybreadgroup and follow the company on Twitter @panerabreadhbg to hear about upcoming new and returning menu items, community involvement and events, employment opportunities, their Panera culture and much more!

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