FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MEDIA CONTACT FOR DMF: MEDIA CONTACT FOR PANERA BREAD:
Rixys Alfonso Dena Chislak
305.558.8877 561.215.8307
DAN MARINO FOUNDATION AND PANERA BREAD TEAM UP TO CELEBRATE NATIONAL AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH AND SCORE A “TOUCHDOWN FOR AUTISM!”
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – The Dan Marino Foundation and Panera Bread will once again team up to celebrate National Autism Awareness Month and score a “Touchdown For Autism!” The Touchdown For Autism awareness and fundraising campaign will be hosted at twenty-seven Panera Bread Cafés across Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
Panera Bread will feature an exclusive “Football” cookie menu item that will only be available in cafés from April 1st through April 7th, 2014. These one-of-a kind cookies will be sold individually or by the “Marino Dozen,” 13 cookies. $1 from the sale of each cookie will benefit the Foundation. In addition, with the generous help of their customers, Panera Bread will be collecting funds in all twenty-seven cafés through their Operation Doughnation boxes located next to the registers at each café. Operation Doughnation boxes will give Panera Bread customers an opportunity to further support The Dan Marino Foundation every time they visit a café now through June 30th, 2014.
“We are very appreciative of Panera Bread’s commitment to our community and The Dan Marino Foundation. Partnering with businesses, like Panera, makes all the difference in creating positive awareness and support.” said Dan Marino, Chairman of the Dan Marino Foundation.
Over the last three years with the support of its customers and the community Panera Bread has raised more than $117,000 for The Dan Marino Foundation and the Foundation’s programs for children and young adults with autism and other developmental disabilities.
“We are very excited about this program because of what The Dan Marino Foundation means to the South Florida Community,” said Sam Covelli of Covelli Enterprises, Owner Operator of Panera Bread in Broward & Palm Beach Counties. “It’s great to continue a wonderful partnership like this knowing the funds raised stay local.”
Please join us for our 2014 kick-off event April 2nd 8am-10am located at Panera Bread - 5975 North Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308. Dan Marino’s son, Michael, will be onsite DJing the event and baking football cookies!
ABOUT COVELLI ENTERPRISES/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. Covelli Enterprises donated over $19 million to charity in 2013 through food and monetary donations to local food banks and non-profit organizations. To learn more about Covelli Enterprises, visit www.paneracovelli.com.
ABOUT THE DAN MARINO FOUNDATION:
The Dan Marino Foundation, Inc., a 501(c) 3 organization was established in 1992 by Dan and Claire Marino, motivated by their experiences in raising their son, Michael, who is diagnosed with autism. The Foundation’s mission is “empowering individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities through therapies, research, education, and employment in pursuit of a greater quality of life.” For over 21 years, the Foundation has served individuals with disabilities in South Florida and raised more than $45 million to create unique and impactful initiatives in the community. Among these “first-of-their-kind” initiatives were the Miami Children’s Hospital Dan Marino Center, Childnett.tv, the Marino Autism Research Institute, Marino Adapted Aquatics, Summer STEPS Employment Programs, and now, opening in 2014, Marino Campus. For more information, please visit www.danmarinofoundation.org.