Panera Bread’s Summer Lemonade Fund-Raiser Successful Helping Second Harvest Feed 33,000 Local Children

Leadership from Second Harvest and Panera Bread gather at the summer's last Lemonade for Hunger Aid stand with the girls from Girls, Inc to celebrate success. (L to r) Tom Strother, advancement manager for Second Harvest; Steve Lisner, joint venture partner for Panera Bread in Jacksonville; Dara Williams marketing manager for Panera Bread in Florida and Alabama; Thomas Mantz, executive director for Second Harvest; Markesha, Deanna, Maya, Irecka and Imani of Girls, Inc.; and Amy DeFullers, vice president of programs at Girls, Inc.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Like many non-profit organizations, Second Harvest Food Bank of North Florida struggles to get through lean times each summer. The problem was exacerbated as many of the children they served at schools during the school year were not ensured at least one nutritional meal per day during summer break. Panera Bread® answered that need this summer by linking a traditional summer drink — lemonade — with a fund-raising campaign that helped feed hungry children in our community.

The children-helping-children summer campaign concluded at the Lemonade for Hunger Aid wrap-up, on August 20 at 11:30, when pre-teens at Girls Inc. gathered at the Jacksonville Landing to offer free lemonade for donations. Maya, Deanna, Iricka, Markesha and Imani, along with their chaperone, Amy DeFullers, vice president of programs at Girls, Inc., spent about an hour with the Landing’s lunch crowd and raised $38. That $38 topped off the nearly $5,500 the campaign earned for Second Harvest this summer.Panera Bread initially launched Lemonade for Hunger Aid in June. The campaign offered the Jacksonville community two ways to help raise thousands of dollars to support Second Harvest’s Kids Cafe Summer Feeding Program, which serves more than 10,000 meals per week while children are out of school. Panera Bread donated $1 for each of its new Frozen Lemonade treats sold in their 12 Jacksonville area locations as well as matched dollar-for-dollar sales generated from community Lemonade for Hunger Aid lemonade stands up to a collective total of $5,000. “The initiative not only resulted in the maximum $5,000 pledge from Panera Bread, but earned us nearly $500 over and above their match, which translates to about 33,000 meals,” said Tom Strother, Advancement Manager for Second Harvest Food Bank of North Florida. “The campaign got community kids directly involved in helping other children in need.”Follow Lemonade for Hunger Aid on Twitter and Facebook, and visit .