Panera Warwick to Host Benjamin's Book Buddies Summer Reading Series

WARWICK, RI, June 4, 2015 —The Panera Bread at 1000 Bald Hill Road in Warwick, Rhode Island announces its Benjamin’s Book Buddies Summer Reading Series featuring meet & greets with best selling authors all to “Raise the Dough” for B’s Mobility Ride! All the proceeds will go to the McDermott family of Warwick to help secure a wheelchair accessible van to support the needs of eight-year-old, Benjamin, who is battling spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a type of muscular dystrophy. Each event will also include book discussions lead by Benjamin of his favorite reads; a great series of books to add to any student’s reading list. The sessions in the Series will be held on Saturday, June 6 and Tuesdays July 14, July 28 and August 18.

The kick-off to the Series, co-sponsored by local radio show “Reading With Robin”, will feature popular children’s author, Victoria Kann, on Saturday, June 6th from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. For a $20 donation, attendees will get to meet the author and receive an autographed copy of Kann’s current release, Aqualicious. A $35 donation also includes a book bag and signed copies of both Aqualicious* and the New York Times best-selling title, Pinkalicious the Pink Drink* (* limited quantities), a simply pinkerrific idea about putting up a lemonade stand. With this in mind, Panera Bread will also provide lemonade samples and a cookie decorating station during the event. Benjamin will also lead a book discussion on George Brown Class Clown by Nancy Krulik. Please RSVP to the first summer reading session at www.benjaminsbookbuddiesvictoriakann.eventbrite.com.

“Knowing that Benjamin is such a voracious reader, we worked with Robin Kall to organize this Summer Reading Series so he can have fun reading and talking about books with other kids,” said Ruth Devitt, General Manager of the Panera Warwick bakery-cafe. “We encourage everyone to come to the cafe this summer to read with Benjamin while helping to ‘Raise the Dough’ to maintain his quality of life.” Devitt added that Panera and “Reading With Robin” are sponsoring the event so all donations will go straight to B’s Mobility Ride. Several Panera fundraisers in the area and a radio partnership with “Reading With Robin” have raised more than $20,000 for the cause to date.

Details on the rest of Benjamin’s Book Buddies Summer Reading Series, which will take place on Tuesday afternoons from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. throughout the summer, are as follows:

Tuesday, July 14 – Features a discussion with Benjamin on some of his favorite books, including Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield and Alien In My Pocket: Blast Off by Nate Ball. The afternoon’s other highlights include cookie decorating, food sampling and a swag bag. Donation: $20. Please RSVP at www.benjaminsbookbuddiesbenjaminmcdermott.eventbrite.com.

Tuesday, July 28 – Features an autographed copy of Cody the Cloud by Kevin Mulhern along with an author meet & greet, cookie decorating and a book bag. Benjamin will also lead a discussion on the book, Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchfork. Donation: $20. Please RSVP at www.benjaminsbookbuddieskevinmulhern.eventbrite.com.

Tuesday, August 18 – Features an autographed copy of My Little Pony Under the Sparking Sea by Mary Jane Begin along with an author meet & greet, cookie decorating and a book bag with a book discussion lead by Benjamin on Floors by Patrick Carmen. Donation: $20. Please RSVP at www.benjaminsbookbuddiesmaryjanebegin.eventbrite.com.

In addition to holding fundraisers for various local causes, Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group also enjoys a partnership with local food banks and social service agencies where all donations collected through its cafes’ ongoing Panera Cares Community Breadbox™ Program go directly to these causes. This Program gives customers the opportunity to donate money at the register to support the local member food banks’ efforts to provide nutritious food to residents in need. In addition, for years Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group has donated all unsold bread and baked goods each night to local food pantries and other organizations that provide hunger relief through its Day-End Dough-Nation™ program.

Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group owns and operates a total of 28 bakery-cafes in Rhode Island (Cranston, Warwick, East Greenwich, Lincoln, Newport, Providence, Smithfield and Wakefield), Massachusetts (North Attleborough, North Dartmouth, Plainville and Seekonk) and Greater Hartford/Eastern, Connecticut (Bristol, Canton, Enfield, Farmington, Foxwoods, Glastonbury, Groton, Hartford, Lisbon, Manchester (2), Newington, Southington, Waterford, West Hartford and Wethersfield) markets. Catering is also available in most cafes. Catering is moving from the Warwick Panera (from Cranston) on July 1st.

To find out about any other upcoming events Panera has scheduled to help B’s Mobility Ride, visit and LIKE its Facebook page /howleybreadgroup. Panera is also asking others in the local community to help raise funds for B’s Mobility Ride and, for those interested, to reach out to Marketing@HowleyBread.com for participation or ideas. Or, for those that simply want to make a donation, please visit www.gofundme.com/bwumj4 to help B’s Mobility Ride today.

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