Bagels to Benefit Breast Cancer Charities

Editor's Note: The following is based on a press release from Panera Bread.

is celebrating 10 years of fighting breast cancer by baking bagels. This October, the signature Pink Ribbon Bagel will be sold at all of Panera Bread’s approximately 1,500 bakery-cafes, with a portion of the proceeds from each bagel sold going to a variety of breast cancer causes throughout the country.

A staple each October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, donations from the sale of the Pink Ribbon Bagel have now raised more than $1 million for breast cancer charities.

In Milford, proceeds from Pink Ribbon Bagel will benefit South Shore Hospital. Shaped in the form of the iconic pink ribbon, 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-cafe. For each bagel sold, at least 10 cents will be donated to support breast cancer awareness and research. Nearly two million Pink Ribbon Bagels were sold in 2010, raising more than $75,000 for charity.

 The Pink Ribbon Bagel concept began in 2001 when Sue Stees, co-owner of 18 Panera Bread franchises and a breast cancer survivor, began searching for ways to help other women fighting the same disease. Her search led her to the kitchen where she developed the Pink Ribbon Bagel. She sold 27,000 bagels in her bakery-cafes that first year and was awarded the “You Can Make a Difference Award” from Susan G. Komen for the Cure. To date, more than seven million Pink Ribbon Bagels have been sold.