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INSIDE: Love and Unhappiness / Student Loan Crisis /
News Eat, Eat, Love: New campaign seeks solutions to hunger in local communities By Meidema Sanchez Assoc. News Editor
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February 2013
t is hard to imagine a world in which you can pay as much as you want for as much as you want. Thanks to Panera Bread, that world has become a reality. On Jan. 23, Panera Bread opened its first Panera Cares location in Boston at 3 Center Plaza just across from Government Center. It is the fifth Panera Cares location nationwide. At Panera Cares, customers can pay whatever amount they want for whatever amount of food and beverages they want. This means that a customer can feasibly walk away with a Broccoli Cheddar soup, Napa Almond Chicken salad and Mediterranean Veggie sandwich for free (without the likelihood of incarceration). Dreams do come true. Luckily for Panera Cares, its Boston location has seen very high contributions in its first few weeks. Its faith in the principle of “shared community responsibility” seems to have paid off. Many of those who have been unable to pay for their meals have volunteered their time and effort to sweeping the floors of Panera Cares or clearing the tables. To have a business depend on “shared community responsibility” is intriguing but risky. As described by Panera Bread CEO Ron Shaich in a statement: Now that the site is open, it is up to the community to sustain it. All con-