Panera Bread Donates $9,000 to Nationwide Children's Hospital at Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Friday

February 28, 2014

Ohio-based Covelli Enterprises, the largest franchisee of Panera Bread, donated $9,000 to Nationwide Children’s Hospital on Friday, February 28 as part of the official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for their newest Panera Bread bakery-café in German Village.

The new Panera Bread café location opened on Tuesday, February 11 at 684 South High Street where the historic Clarmont steakhouse stood for more than 60 years. The Grand Opening included several days of special offers and a two-week fundraising promotion benefitting Nationwide Children’s. For every $5 gift card redeemed at the new location, Panera Bread donated $1 to the cause. The funds are a result of both the fundraiser at the new location as well as community cashbox donations during the month of January and February in all 27 of the Panera Bread café locations in Columbus.

“We are extremely grateful for the generosity of Covelli Enterprises and their Panera Bread customers,” said Niki Shafer, Vice President of Annual Giving for Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation. “We look forward to a long and successful partnership that will impact the health of sick and injured kids who receive care at Nationwide Children’s.”

The Ribbon Cutting was held at 10am with a VIP reception immediately following. Representatives from City Council, the German Village Business Society and Experience Columbus were in attendance to assist with cutting the ribbon.

About Covelli Enterprises
Covelli Enterprises owns and operates 250 bakery-cafés in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Canada and Florida. Covelli Enterprises is the largest franchisee of Panera, LLC. www.paneracovelli.com

About Nationwide Children's Hospital

Named to the Top 10 Honor Roll on U.S. News & World Report’s 2024-25 list of “Best Children’s Hospitals,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of America’s largest not-for-profit free-standing pediatric health care systems providing unique expertise in pediatric population health, behavioral health, genomics and health equity as the next frontiers in pediatric medicine, leading to best outcomes for the health of the whole child. Integrated clinical and research programs, as well as prioritizing quality and safety, are part of what allows Nationwide Children’s to advance its unique model of care. Nationwide Children’s has a staff of more than 16,000 that provides state-of-the-art wellness, preventive and rehabilitative care and diagnostic treatment during more than 1.8 million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the Top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded free-standing pediatric research facilities. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org