Communal Giving

On January 23, Boston opened the doors of its new Panera Cares community café, an event well worth cheering. Most of us are familiar with the Panera Bread chain, given that there are more than 1,600 locations across the country, offering yummy food, coffee, and free Wi-Fi. But Panera Cares cafes are extra special, and exactly the kind of business model we here at GenGen love to promote.

Unlike Panera Bread locations, Panera Cares cafes have been built by the company, but are designed to be sustained by the community. The idea is to offer a dignified setting and an affordable (or free) meal to those in need, with costs covered by those who can afford to give a little extra. Those who cannot afford to contribute money also have the option to volunteer an hour of their time in exchange for a free meal voucher. Additionally, the Panera Cares cafes serve their resident communities by using donations exceeding café operating costs to create programs such as job training internships for at-risk youths. There’s beautiful symmetry at play here; the benefits the café offers to the community are a direct result of the contributions the community provides.

As Panera Bread CEO Ron Shaich stated, “This is a pay-it-forward model and will only work if the community supports it and one another.” We love the wonderfully generous example Panera is setting, and salute their mission to bring awareness to food insecurity issues, and encourage generosity in the communities where they have built Panera Cares cafes. The newest café in Boston marks the fifth Panera Cares café to open since 2010.

How can your firm draw from the Panera Cares mission to offer your community a similar generosity model for legal services? Be sure to let us know when inspiration strikes!