Local News
Temecula Komen Race for the Cure
By
Oct 15, 2006, 08:02

Panera Bread is inviting its customers to join in the fight against breast cancer by eating a bagel for breakfast during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Panera’s signature Pink Ribbon Bagels will be sold in the Riverside, San Bernardino County locations and in all of its more than 900 bakery-cafes during the month of October. Panera is proud to donate a portion of the proceeds from each Pink Ribbon Bagel sold to a variety of breast cancer causes throughout the country, including the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inland Empire Affiliate in Temecula.

The Panera Pink Ribbon Bagel is baked fresh daily in each of Panera Bread’s bakery-cafes and features cherry chips and real bits of Bing cherries and cranberries.  The product follows the tradition of ‘thinking pink’ during the month of October in the quest to eradicate breast cancer disease. 

Sue Stees, one of Panera Bread’s first franchisees and a breast cancer survivor, developed the idea for the Pink Ribbon Bagel in 2001 as a way to help support the cause.  “This undertaking tickles us pink,” said Stees, a Tulsa resident who currently operates 19 Panera bakery-cafes in Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. 

“Panera Bread is committed to serving the members of the local community, many of whom have had their lives touched by breast cancer,” said Steven Fricker, Ceo and President of R & S Bread Group, a franchisee of Panera Bread. . “We are honored to support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inland Empire Affiliate, in the fight to find a cure for breast cancer.”

The Inland Empire Race for the Cure® will be held October 15 at the Promenade in Temecula. Team registration continues until September 30th. For more information, visit www.iekomen.org or call the Komen office at 951-304-9500.

Sponsors for the Race include: Ralphs Food For Less Foundation, the Press Enterprise, Ashley Furniture, the Promenade in Temecula, Starbucks Coffee, KZSW TV, Community Little Book, City of Temecula, 101.3 KATY- the best mix, Southwest Health Care System, Abbott Vascular, Time Warner Cable, Prestige Developers, Inc., Macy’s, Hematology Oncology Consultants, and the Blood Bank of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, plus nearly a hundred other businesses and companies.